You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The UK publication of controversial historical novel The Jewel of Medina is unclear today with Gibson Square m.d Martin Rynja still in hiding after this weekend's thwarted attack on his property, which police prevented on suspicion of terrorism. The book is scheduled for publication on 15th October, with the first print-run due imminently. Rynja could not be contacted by The Bookseller. But author Sherry Jones has said that she has been in contact with Rynja and that she was still planning to visit the UK for publication next month.
However, no one at Gibson Square’s independent sales force Compass, which was reporting strong pre-order levels, has been able to contact Rynja since the event. Alan Jessop, m.d, said the situation was "not clear". "We have heard nothing from Martin at this point at all," he said. "We are not clear as to what the future holds."
The offices of the US publisher Beaufort Books are also closed today "for precautionary measures".
Fellow independent publisher Profile Books reiterated its support for publication of the novel in the UK. Andrew Franklin, m.d, said the decision to publish the book after it had been dropped by Random House US was "brave and right . . . and I think it was the right thing to do." Franklin added he was hopeful the most recent news would "mean that the book will do well and reflect well on Martin and badly on Random House".
Police arrested three men, aged 22, 30 and 40, just before 2:30am Saturday morning, and police confirmed today they were still in custody. Warrants obtained following the arrests mean the men can be held until 5th October.
Gibson Square confirmed an initial print run of 20,000 copies last week, with UK publication date fixed for 15th October.