Latest News

'Johnson's extremely clever linkage between the present search for the truth and medieval heritage never wanes. Her historical research gives the novel a desperate edge, embroidered with classic needlework which is also at the heart of a story of entrapment and slavery.' Colin Gardiner, Oxford Times

Sea Salts & Sail
Mousehole 4th,5th,6th July

I'll have a book stall at our local biennial festival on Sunday 6th. Throughout the day Abdel will be serving up Moroccan delicacies and mint tea, so worth coming just for that!


Newlyn Fish Festival
August Bank Holiday Monday (25th August)

Local author Michelle Cartlidge and I will be sharing a book stall at this famous annual event, so if you're visiting the area, please do come and find us and say hello.

It's been a funny old time since publication in the UK (April) and the US and Canada (May). When friends know you have a new book out everyone asks the same question: 'How's it going?' This is a hard question a) to interpret and b) to answer, because the definition of success is pretty subjective. I find I generally answer 'fine, I think', because to explain at any great length about the low state of the British or US market at the moment, the death of the hardback in the UK, the closed doors of the literary reviewing establishment, the fantastic odds against any new author making an appearance on a bestseller list or in a supermarket chart without the support of the Richard & Judy Book Club, all sounds both whingingly defensive and achingly, anally dull. Put two authors together, or an author and a publisher or (I am the worst case of course, being both in the same package) an author, publisher and agent together and you can have post mortem conversations of this nature ad infinitum. The truth of the matter is that most books sell at a certain unstartling level, don't make it into the top 10 or are heralded everywhere from the Sunday Times to the Washington Post as the future of literature; but even for those of us who know the odds it's hard not to be faintly disappointed for the world not to have changed shaped because your book was published. I can hear all the authors I've published over the years laughing hollowly at this little lesson in realism...

On the other hand there have been some nicely starry moments. At last count there were over 50 Amazon reviews posted for CROSSED BONES averaging out at a very decent 4 stars, with a large preponderance of 5 star reviews brought down by a few readers who really didn't get on with it at all! (Although, as any author will tell you, it's always the negative ones you remember, no matter how glowing the comments in the good reviews.) And great blurbs from a number of authors, papers and internet sites around the world. Some heart-warming emails from fans, including a number of European women who also found love in Morocco and are either terrifically happy or still battling bureaucracy, with whom the novel struck a deep chord.

The German, Dutch, Swedish and Italian publishers have been sharing their fantastically ambitious publication plans with me, and have all devised extraordinarily different covers for their markets, all of which are striking and elegant in their own ways. I'll be visiting the Netherlands to publicise the Dutch edition in September and Rome and Milan to publicise the Italian edition in October.

Best of all, the new novel that I'm working on now, THE SALT ROAD, has been sold in Germany and the UK so far, and is about to be submitted elsewhere, so I am hard at work. And in the meantime I've delivered the latest children's book - THE MASKMAKER - to Marion Lloyd, head of Marion Lloyd Books at Scholastic UK, so that will be published in the spring of 2009, around the same time, I imagine, as the paperback of CROSSED BONES, which will see yet another incarnation of the cover packaging.

So it's been an odd, up-and-down sort of time; and on top of all this I've been inundated with HarperCollins work, with several authors delivering at once and some high profile submissions that have had to be read quickly. I'm looking forward to a holiday, but other than 3 days in Paris next month to visit Abdel's family, I don't think I'm going to get one any time soon! Still, am happy to be living in interesting times.

'Beautifully written, first-class escapism... a meticulously researched epic story. You come to care about the pirates who kidnap Cat and the tensions between Islam and the West are well explored' Louise Bagshawe, Mail on Sunday

'Echoes of Jamaica Inn make this a cracker' Alex Heminsley on The Weekender, Radio 2

Nice welcome back from my North American trip, which was great: thank you Random House - who knew Toronto could be such fun? It's the first time I've seen CROSSED BONES appear as THE TENTH GIFT, and I have to say it's a handsome package, more sumptuous and serious-seeming than the UK cover, which errs a little on the side of bodice-ripping. Amazing to see the books piled up in the stores and even, rather bizarrely, on the side of a distributor's truck. Thanks, too, to Ben McNally for hosting the rather surreal and extraordinary literary brunch which I shared with the charming Misha Glenny and Rabih Alameddine, feeling like something of a lightweight between these two talents. I've never addressed such an enormous crowd before (and certainly not without a fortifying drink, which might have been frowned upon at 10 in the morning) but they seemed to enjoy the story of how Abdel and I met and were married, so people's generosity and innate sense of romance saw me through.

Typically, I missed all the sultry early-summer weather in the UK, during which Abdel walked the cliff path from Mousehole to Land's End in blazing sunshine, and now it's pouring with rain back here in Cornwall. But at least I'm back in time to watch the Champions League final. Is this the last time we'll see Drogba, Lampard or Carvalho in a a Blues strip? Heartbreaking thought. Come on, Chelsea!

So: third continent in as many weeks - off to North America the day after tomorrow (by which time I shall know whether or not Chelsea have overcome their bugbear and beaten Liverpool to make the final of the Champions League: will I be travelling with a light heart or burning with fury?). I've never been to Toronto before and was delighted to accept an invitation from Doubleday Canada to come and promote THE TENTH GIFT. Amongst the radio and TV interviews and stock signing I'll also be speaking at an event for Ben McNally Books over brunch at the King Edward Hotel at 10a.m. on Sunday 3rd May alongside Rabih Alameddine, Mary Roach and Misha Glenny, which should make for a lively and varied discussion!

More reviews:

'The Tenth Gift explores love, forgiveness, work, captivity in its various forms and the meaning of life. Characters strive to build their faith whether they understand everything that happens to them or not. A based-on-true-life plot makes for a riveting tale, all the way to the improbable if emotionally satisfying ending' BOOK PAGE

'Johnson's innovative style and tone (informed by her own Moroccan vision-quest) transforms what could have been a conventional swashbuckler into a witty page-turner' KIRKUS

'Captivating energy and momentum' PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

'THE TENTH GIFT is an enchanting, addictive novel' Chick Speak

Huge apologies to anyone who's been trying to email me via this site up till now: there's been a glitch in the system.

I love to hear from readers and visitors to the site, so please do send emails to me, because the address is now working. There's no live link, in order to avoid spam, but all you need to do is type in jane@ and then janejohnsonbooks.com (no spaces), and I promise to respond quickly.

'An unashamedly escapist page-turner that will be enjoyed by fans of Kate Mosse and Philippa Gregory' DAILY MAIL

I've signed stock around the Central London bookshops, so now it's Cornwall's turn. Press this week: Sunday Express (6th April), The Western Morning News, Cornwall Today, The Cornishman, Woman's Own...

10th April
1 - 2pm event with The Harbour Bookshop, St Ives, Cornwall at St Ives Library

2.30pm signing for Ron Johns Bookshop, 2 Fore Street, St Ives

Friday 11th April
11am signing at Waterstone's Truro, 11-12 Boscawen St, Truro

12.30pm signing at Falmouth Bookseller, 21 Church St, Falmouth

An this morning signed stock for Books Plus on Market Jew Street in Penzance.

More to come when I get a chance: I have a Sam Bourne novel (The Final Reckoning) to read and edit before the weekend, which is tight; but I managed to read The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox whilst travelling in a jeep through the Sahara and Morocco's Draa Valley (photos and a proper blog on this to come shortly) then anything's possible...

* Sunday 23rd March: 4-page feature in YOU magazine, The Mail on Sunday
Here's the link, if you want to read the article. (Unfortunately, you can only see most of the photos in the actual magazine):
http://www.you.co.uk/pages/you/article.html?in_article_id=541289&in_page_id=1908

* April issue Marie Claire - 5 star review by Eithne Farry: 'An atmospheric and hugely romantic adventure story'


* 'A remarkable view of Barbary pirates and their times, and an engrossing romance of clashing cultures and wonderful characters' --Diana Gabaldon

* 'I took it to read in the bath and was still reading when the water had gone cold! I really couldn't put it down. Exciting and romantic (oh so romantic!) and there is so much suspense. The descriptions are fabulous, too. It deserves to be a huge success' -- Barbara Erskine


* 'I was enthralled from the first page to the last by this dramatic, exotic, and passionate tale that slips seamlessly through time. Jane Johnson's wonderfully researched book leaves the fragrance of spices and the rustle of beautiful silks lingering in the mind with images of two exceptional women and the men in their lives' --Rosalind Laker, author of The Golden Tulip


* 'Exciting, intriguing, fascinating and also illuminating' --Rosalind Miles, author of I, Elizabeth and Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country

* 'Brings to life a forgotten part of England's past: the capture of inhabitants of the southern coast by Barbary corsairs in the early sixteen hundreds. Rich with detail, wonderfully researched, this is a novel that will surprise and delight' --Gerri Brightwell, author of The Dark Lantern

Appearances

* Wednesday 2nd April - Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, Penguin Readers' Evening 6.30 pm to 8pm in the Newman Rooms, St Aldate's

* Harbour Bookshop, St Ives, Cornwall 1pm - reading and signing



More events to follow...

I promise to update the blogspot on the site more frequently once publication comes along, but at the moment this is a bit like talking to myself. Which, to be honest, I already do quite a lot of. I also find myself talking to the sparrows and house buntings up on the terrace - even if they were listening I doubt they'd understand anything but Berber - to the television (oh, come on ref, that was never a penalty!), and to the hoover when it plays up. But at least that's in private.

In fact, Tafraout has suddenly become rather public. First of all we had the visit from the Mail on Sunday YOU magazine journalist (Jane Gordon), photographer (Charlotte Murphy and her assistant Lenka) and it was in the end great fun. Watch for photos of Abdel and me fondling goats, hefting cockerels and eyeing up sheeps' heads in the local souk: publication date March 23rd. Luckily, I shall still be here and not back in Cornwall for a fortnight after this has appeared, by which time I am hoping everyone will have forgotten about it...

The short tourist season has suddenly hit with a vengeance and we are besieged by French and German 'camping-caristes' - driving vast RUVs and parking all over the countryside, in people's fields and gardens, all over the place (just because they think they can); and by Italian and German and British walkers and climbers, who have a bit more sensitivity to their environment.

We've had our friends James and Betty staying for a climbing trip, soon to be joined by their friends (now ours, too) Egg and Ruthie and their bright yellow van; and suddenly I found myself wishing I hadn't deliberately left all my climbing gear at home in Cornwall in order to concentrate on my deadlines. Despite mixed weather, many adventures were had by all, although no one else has managed to get benighted on the Lion's Head as Bruce and I did in that fateful February in 2005. Hearing their tales of loose rock and thin moves, awkward cruxes and perfect slabs made my palms itch. But I have got a lot of writing done instead.

And then this week we have had writers for three guidebooks descend on Tafraout. I missed the chap from the Lonely Planet (which seems apt), shared a fine evening with Julius Honnor from Footprint, sampling one of Abdel's chicken tajines and watching Chelsea grind out a grim 0-0 draw with Olympiakos (what odds finding another West Country Chelsea fan in this out of the way spot?), and then last night mint tea and cakes with Sam Le Quesne from Time Out, who turns out to be a friend of a friend. Sometimes it's a very small world. Which is both perversely reassuring and bizarre: I came here to get away from it all!

It's hot in Morocco; but on the news there's snow in the US, China and UK, miserable weather, power outages and traffic chaos. It feels surreal. I look out of the window here onto a curiously timeless world: rose-coloured houses bathed in sunshine, palm trees vivid against dusty rock, roof terraces colourful with airing rugs and drying washing, women in black haiks carrying sacks of flour home from the market, sometimes even on donkey-back.

Boys are playing football in the street outside because there's hardly any traffic to disturb them, and it's one of the rest days in the Africa Cup of Nations football contest. There was a day of national mourning here last week when Guinea knocked Morocco out of the tournament, but when the Cote d'Ivoire knocked Guinea out 5-0 on Sunday, no one was cheering: they'd largely lost interest. If Barcelona are on TV, or Manchester United, or even Chelsea, they'll be packing into one of the little cafes in the town with an old telly braced to the wall to watch the match.

I'm in that odd limbo time before publication of the book, when no one really knows what the reaction to it will be; and this dusty little corner of Morocco seems the most appropriate place to be in this odd space, before returning to the modern world for the London Book Fair, Oxford Literary Festival and publicity events in UK, US and Canada. It's a great luxury to be able to get your head down somewhere quiet like this, where you're able to hold the rest of the world at bay via email, pondering ideas for the next work, taking notes, reading research material, letting your mind be quiet. Ideas need quiet time to mulch down, like a compost heap...

How surprising then, to be tracked down to this remote place by the Mail on Sunday, You magazine. A team arrive tomorrow: a journalist and photographer to cover the story behind Crossed Bones/Tenth Gift. I wonder what they'll make of Tafraout? I see its beauties easily now, though it took a while to learn to look past the strewn plastic bags, the overflowing oil cans of rubbish, the ever-present building work, the dust. This morning when I cycled into the countryside I saw the almond trees were beginning to blossom, though the silver branches of the figs are still bare. I disturbed a rock squirrel among the twisted roots of an argan tree when I sat in the shade for a while; I watched a crested lark soar up into the uninterrupted blue of the sky. The modern world, with its Sunday newspapers, publicity opportunities and strictly regulated hours and timetables seemed literally a world away.