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Sarah Broadhurst
Born: 28th December 1945
Died: 12th March 2024
Sarah Broadhurst, the former paperback previewer at The Bookseller, has died after a long illness.
Broadhurst joined The Bookseller in 1979, and worked under five editors, before departing the magazine in 2014. She continued to work in the book business at LoveReading, before in full retirement she devoted herself to community work, indulged her love of reading, gardening and sheepherding.
Broadhurst began her book career with the Piccadilly bookshop Hatchards, hired by the then-manager Peter Giddy to oversee its small paperback department. Though paperbacks had been around for nearly 30 years it wasn’t until the late 1950s that they were beginning to establish themselves as a real part of the publishing cycle, as a format for quality books as well as for pulp fiction. Broadhurst spearheaded the paperback revolution in Hatchards, establishing them as a format of choice for discerning readers, not just hardbacks’ poor cousin, before going on to open paperback departments in Debenham & Freebody and then Harrods.
In the mid-1970s, Broadhurst took a break from the trade to drive across South America for four months before returning and setting up a book wholesaler and, as part of it, a resource for booksellers called Paperback Buyer which aimed to highlight the very best paperbacks for forthcoming publication. A few years later, in 1977, she married Tony Kingsford, the publisher of BBC Books.
When the wholesaler folded, Publishing News founder Fred Newman bought the rights to Paperback Buyer and folded it into that magazine; but when in 1979 Broadhurst found herself pregnant for a second time, and knowing that she wanted to find a job that would be fulfilling but enable her to work part-time and from home, it was to The Bookseller that she turned; this magazine had never given paperbacks a dedicated space before. Her ability to spot potential bestsellers before they were published meant her article quickly established a reputation as being the place publishers wanted their books featured. Getting a spot as one of her “ones to watch” was seen as a marker of future success, with Terry Pratchett, Joanna Trollope, Lee Child and Peter James among the many, many authors she recognised the brilliance of before they became bestsellers.
Sarah helped to make an entire sector, as well as those authors and publishers who were perfectly suited to these new types of books — Philip Jones, editor, The Bookseller
Heavily dyslexic and completely unable to fathom the QWERTY keyboard, she wrote all of her articles by hand on the back of the paperback covers she received in great number each month – text which Tony Kingsford typed up for her. Tony’s ill health precipitated the family moving to Somerset, where Broadhurst took on a smallholding of sheep and delighted in telling tales of shearing and lambing on her regular visits to publishers’ offices. She became a significant part of her local community and a longstanding love of theatre led to her taking on a role behind the scenes of her local amateur dramatic society, directing plays and pantomimes. When Tony died in 1996, Broadhurst lost not just her husband and great love but also her amanuensis – but having never missed an article and with a deadline looming, she found someone to type her articles. They became a lifelong friend.
Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller, said: “Sarah was a one-off: recognising the format shift from hardbacks to paperbacks, she first fought for their space, and then consolidated it within the magazine with her on-point and often strident views. Our previewers make individual titles, but Sarah helped make an entire sector, as well as those authors and publishers who were perfectly suited to these new types of books and the readers they would appeal to. In that respect, for editors she was a dream contributor, and a real loss to the magazine when she left. More widely, many publishers and authors owe her a huge thanks, and I know this news of her passing will be received with great sadness.”
In her final column for The Bookseller, Broadhurst reflected on her columns. “The chance to influence the masses, to take exciting books to open minds, to enthuse and bubble, to say: ‘You have to read this’. I couldn’t resist.”
In her later years, she developed severe osteoporosis and she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. She was fully bed-bound for her final year. Born on 28th December 1945, Broadhurst died at home on 12th March 2024, surrounded by her family, including her two daughters Katherine and Julia Kingsford, the latter’s husband Ed, and her grandchildren Theo and Magnus. In her final years, her daughter Julia noted, her greatest pleasure was in reading to them.
Trade tributes
Larry Finlay
Former managing director, Transworld Publishers
The word “indefatigable” could have been invented for Sarah. She read more than anyone, and had an unrivalled nose for commercial success. She loved great storytelling, of all shades, and spotted the talents of future “giants” long before anyone else. Sarah was also tremendous company: eccentric, fastidious and opinionated – about everything! I visited Sarah and her family a few times in the 1990s down on her beautiful smallholding in Somerset, where every guest had to earn their keep by mucking in with her flock of Jacob sheep, performing minor veterinary tasks that were completely beyond my skill-set. I think it was some kind of test: just how far can I push this young Londoner outside of his urban comfort zone before he returns to banging on about his forthcoming list of books? It’s one I think I passed, but one could never be quite sure with Sarah. Her verdict on my herding prowess was probably “one to watch”! I will remember Sarah with great fondness, as well as with huge admiration for all that she did for authors, their publishers and booksellers.
Jonathan Nowell
Former publisher of The Bookseller, now senior advisor, Trillium Partners
When I joined The Bookseller in the early 1990s Sarah was a legend. Her paperback previews were avidly read by almost every bookseller in the country – and well beyond these shores. A five-star review would guarantee orders and, more often than not, high sales. She was courted by every publisher and sales director in the paperback publishing world. As publisher of The Bookseller, I was collared on many occasions by disgruntled publishers whose books had not “got the ratings they deserved”! When I pointed out Sarah’s fabulous track record of picking winners, the retort was that “she had too much power”. Sarah did have power, but she had earnt it: she understood the reader and which books they would buy.
Nicholas Clee
Former editor of The Bookseller, now joint-editor, BookBrunch
I worked with Sarah for 20 years, some 15 of them as copy editor. It was a time-consuming job, for reasons that became fully apparent to me only when I read her obituary – one wasn’t very clued-up about dyslexia then. But what made it rewarding, and made The Bookseller lucky to have her, was Sarah’s great knowledge of and, endearingly, enthusiasm for books and the book trade. She read widely, and pushed (“hyped”, she used to say) the books she loved. Book influencers are all over the place now; they weren’t when Sarah was in her heyday. She was unique.
Amanda Ridout
Founder and c.e.o., Boldwood Books
Sarah was an extraordinary force to be reckoned with in publishers’ sales departments in the 1990s and Noughties. Her Paperback Previews could make or break a title and her judgment as to whether an author was a “rising star” was the ultimate accolade and often determined their fate. She was also incredibly wise and witty about the publishing ecosystem, spotting trends and encouraging recognition and respect for the power of commercial fiction at a time when it was not fashionable to do so.
