The Library Of Lost Books: Something Beginning With

Not all lost books are old ones.

Something Beginning With by Sarah Salway was first published in 2004 to some considerable acclaim. It also sold quite well. For a while.

A few years later, however, it had fallen out of print.

This happens sometimes. Quite a lot in fact. Not every book can remain in the public eye forever and if demand drops off for a while then a publisher may not deem it viable to reprint.

Whatever the reason, this cracking little debut hasn't been available for a while. A real shame as Salway is an amazing writer. Don't believe me? Fine. What if I asked Neil Gaiman to wade in at this point?

"Sarah Salway is the Madonna of writing books. The dancing one, not the Mother of Jesus one. Except she's younger and has had less plastic surgery. Sarah Salway that is. Also she writes really well."

So there.

I love Sarah's writing. I think she is one of, if not the best short story writer in the country and her three novels, of which this is the first, are brilliant. So I put my finest persuading pants on and tried to convince her to let me to re-publish Something Beginning With as part of the Library of Lost Books. And I am delighted that she agreed. For a current active writer to allow a six-year-old book to be described as 'lost' takes some balls. And she has them.

But what about the book itself? Via an encyclopedia of entries from Ambition to Zzzz (and touching upon Ears, Gwyneth Paltrow and Woolworth's along the way) Salway tells the story of Verity and Sally and how their friendship is affected when then both fall for inappropriate men. She has deconstructed the traditional novel and rearranged it in alphabetical order. The structure is clever and experimental but the book is a breeze to read. If you want something entertaining but just that little bit different then you won't go far wrong here.

Of all the books in this first wave of the Library of Lost Books, this was the one that I was concerned about the most. How to draw attention to a novel that is actually quite recent when it is being presented alongside some titles that have been 'lost' for decades?

In the end I needn't have worried. Sarah wrote a fantastic blog post that Neil Gaiman tweeted about to his 1.5 million followers. He then blogged about it himself shortly after. Those two mentions alone gave the book more exposure than any press review ever could.

And then William Gibson announced on his Twitter feed that he was taking the Kindle version on holiday with him.

Splendid.

I am delighted that this wonderful unsung writer is getting some long overdue attention. I think she is marvelous.

Comments

[Rob]

For once, it's not your sales technique that'll make me get a copy (I've got your previous three 'lost' books!) I don't like the word 'experimental', I see nothing special about Neil Gaiman (Coraline excepted), and I've never heard of William Gibson (or is he a sci-fi writer?)!

However, loved Sarah's blog post. Made me just wanna go give her a hug! If I can get it for a few bucks via kobo, I'll give it a go....

[Downith]

I read Sarah's post and decided to buy the book immediately. I am having an online book club discussion of "Something Beginning With" on my blog on a date to be determined in January. All welcome:

See http://writeitdownith.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-spy-with-my-little-eye.html

[Judie La Flamme]

Scott, your persuading pants did the trick. It's in my Amazon cart. I would never dare ignore such a hearty recommendation from you! Thanks, Judie