It is now almost two months since the official publication of Crow Court and this is how it is going:
“This vivid historical drama, set in 19th-century Dorset, begins with suicide and murder before spiralling out to tell a dark tale of justice covered up.”
Sarah Hughes ‘75 Best Books of 2021’ iNews January 8, 2021
“Over 14 intricate, interconnected chapters Charman’s clever, elegantly constructed, utterly convincing debut paints an intimate picture of a community wondering about the killer in their midst...”
Eithne Farry, Dail Mail, January 22, 2021
“Charman is less interested in unravelling a mystery and more concerned with the consequences that ripple out from the original violence...”
Nick Rennison ‘The best new historical fiction for February 2021’ The Times, February 19, 2021
The difficulty in getting any sort of visibility for new books, especially new fiction by an unknown author, is monumental: there are around 10,000 new titles published in the UK every month and competition to be noticed by reviewers is ridiculous. To get into the national newspapers is the Holy Grail; they have huge circulations and are the main conduit for information about new books for most of the population. With space for no more that four or five titles each week, the big five publishing houses, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Hachette tend to dominate. They have large, powerful publicity departments and they draw all the attention with big name authors. Small presses like Unbound rarely get a look-in.
So watching Crow Court appear in three national newspapers, including The Sunday Times is something of a spectacle. Bright lights and fireworks. It is a huge tribute to Unbound that they have been able to draw attention to Crow Court, and that the literary world has taken heed of their calls. I don’t think we could have wished for a better reception.
There is also news that the audio book version is on its way. More about that in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, let me thank you once again for your initial and continuing support for this project.
Stay safe!