Robert Galbriath’s Silkworm weaving threads of literary brilliance
Throughout the novel, the revelations are as artful as they are shocking and suspenseful.
JK Rowling is a global phenomenon. She is not just a great novelist but also the leader of a global cult that she has assiduously concocted.
Her novels, though considered to be aimed for juvenile readers by literary critics, are voraciously enjoyed and praised by children and adults alike. Her work certainly cannot be regarded as ‘literary fiction’ but in the realm of popular-genre fiction, she is surely the well-deserved knighted queen.
Her first book in the Harry Potter series was rejected by as much as 12 publishers, but soon after its publication, Rowling took the world by storm and her storytelling struck a chord with millions of people globally, making her the first person to become a billion dollar author according to the Forbes magazine.
After dazzling her avid readers with her seven-volume series of magical-fantasy Harry Potter books, Rowling is delightfully experimenting with her flairs in her new crime-fiction sequence. What is surprising is that Rowling has chosen to write this series not under her own name but under a pseudonym Robert Galbriath.
In her first novel of the Cormoran Strike series, ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, Rowling lifts the lid on the glamorous world of super models, designers, photographers, rappers, cheating boyfriends and rich, lustrous film producers. Coming back in full swing with her stunning new novel in the series, ‘The Silkworm’, she takes us into the highbrow and labyrinthine literature world of authors, publishers and critics, with the sprawling splendour of posh London, again, as a backdrop.
The mystery revolves around the enigmatic disappearance of the popular London-based novelist, Owen Quinn, under bizarre circumstances and his subsequent murder of a rather gruesome and violent nature. Prior to his disappearance, Quinn writes a vitriolic and poisonous novel ‘Bombyx Mori’ (Latin for the silkworm), in which he writes disparaging pen-portraits of the people he knows, chiding even the closest of his colleagues, unravelling the ugly and surreptitious truths about their glitzy lives. Due to its spiteful and rancorous nature, Quinn’s agent and publisher express their concerns over its publication.
There are a handful of people who have read the unpublished manuscript. Amongst these people, there are those who are infuriated and enraged due to its contents, those who are alarmed, those who are fearful and concerned, and then, of course, there are those who are willing to do anything to stop the publication of this venomous monstrosity of a novel. The stakes for these people are so high that even to warrant a murder to stop its publication is justified.
Just like in ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, in this novel too, we meet the alluring and terribly brainy detective Cormoran Strike and his meticulous and sexy assistant, Robin Ellacott. Strike and Ellacott, who are approached by Quinn’s wife, Leonara, to solve the mystery, are drawn to its masterful ploy and soon find themselves engulfed in the rich, money-infatuated world of authors and publishers. It is a world where people are merely pretentious characters, much like the ones they write about, and egos are incredibly inflated. There is a never-ending clash of careers, and editors and critics are rivalling for fame and success.
As the tricky leads unfold and this detective dream-team uses its many skills dexterously, a barrage of suspects emerges. Ranging from Quinn’s own wife to his secret and vile mistress Kathryn Kent and from his publisher Danielle Chard to his editor Jerry Waldegrave, there is evidence that points in all directions. Not to forget, there are Michael Francourt, Quinn’s rival author and Elizabeth Tassel, his bossy and intimidating agent. The truth that Strike and Ellacott will surface is the most astounding deception of all and will expose them to deadly jeopardy.
Throughout the novel, the revelations are as artful as they are shocking and suspenseful. Rowling uses her myriad talents as a writer diligently to build a crescendo of suspense that percolates, gathers momentum and leads to an ending that is a class act in itself. Using the rich corridors of literary London, Rowling weaves a thread of such a sumptuously readable and compulsively addictive mystery that the novel becomes ‘inseparable’.
Can Rowling be considered a ‘literary’ writer or not is still an on-going debate, but I am firmly certain that she herself is not concerned about such futilities. She is famous (quite a lot), rich (unbridled) and her books sell (millions). She is everything an author can ever wish to be.
She writes brilliantly and her books are adored. But will the literary critics ever acknowledge her? Will she ever win the coveted Nobel Prize in literature? Is her work considered literature at all?
Time will tell.
Her novels, though considered to be aimed for juvenile readers by literary critics, are voraciously enjoyed and praised by children and adults alike. Her work certainly cannot be regarded as ‘literary fiction’ but in the realm of popular-genre fiction, she is surely the well-deserved knighted queen.
Her first book in the Harry Potter series was rejected by as much as 12 publishers, but soon after its publication, Rowling took the world by storm and her storytelling struck a chord with millions of people globally, making her the first person to become a billion dollar author according to the Forbes magazine.
After dazzling her avid readers with her seven-volume series of magical-fantasy Harry Potter books, Rowling is delightfully experimenting with her flairs in her new crime-fiction sequence. What is surprising is that Rowling has chosen to write this series not under her own name but under a pseudonym Robert Galbriath.
In her first novel of the Cormoran Strike series, ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, Rowling lifts the lid on the glamorous world of super models, designers, photographers, rappers, cheating boyfriends and rich, lustrous film producers. Coming back in full swing with her stunning new novel in the series, ‘The Silkworm’, she takes us into the highbrow and labyrinthine literature world of authors, publishers and critics, with the sprawling splendour of posh London, again, as a backdrop.
The mystery revolves around the enigmatic disappearance of the popular London-based novelist, Owen Quinn, under bizarre circumstances and his subsequent murder of a rather gruesome and violent nature. Prior to his disappearance, Quinn writes a vitriolic and poisonous novel ‘Bombyx Mori’ (Latin for the silkworm), in which he writes disparaging pen-portraits of the people he knows, chiding even the closest of his colleagues, unravelling the ugly and surreptitious truths about their glitzy lives. Due to its spiteful and rancorous nature, Quinn’s agent and publisher express their concerns over its publication.
There are a handful of people who have read the unpublished manuscript. Amongst these people, there are those who are infuriated and enraged due to its contents, those who are alarmed, those who are fearful and concerned, and then, of course, there are those who are willing to do anything to stop the publication of this venomous monstrosity of a novel. The stakes for these people are so high that even to warrant a murder to stop its publication is justified.
Just like in ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, in this novel too, we meet the alluring and terribly brainy detective Cormoran Strike and his meticulous and sexy assistant, Robin Ellacott. Strike and Ellacott, who are approached by Quinn’s wife, Leonara, to solve the mystery, are drawn to its masterful ploy and soon find themselves engulfed in the rich, money-infatuated world of authors and publishers. It is a world where people are merely pretentious characters, much like the ones they write about, and egos are incredibly inflated. There is a never-ending clash of careers, and editors and critics are rivalling for fame and success.
As the tricky leads unfold and this detective dream-team uses its many skills dexterously, a barrage of suspects emerges. Ranging from Quinn’s own wife to his secret and vile mistress Kathryn Kent and from his publisher Danielle Chard to his editor Jerry Waldegrave, there is evidence that points in all directions. Not to forget, there are Michael Francourt, Quinn’s rival author and Elizabeth Tassel, his bossy and intimidating agent. The truth that Strike and Ellacott will surface is the most astounding deception of all and will expose them to deadly jeopardy.
Throughout the novel, the revelations are as artful as they are shocking and suspenseful. Rowling uses her myriad talents as a writer diligently to build a crescendo of suspense that percolates, gathers momentum and leads to an ending that is a class act in itself. Using the rich corridors of literary London, Rowling weaves a thread of such a sumptuously readable and compulsively addictive mystery that the novel becomes ‘inseparable’.
Can Rowling be considered a ‘literary’ writer or not is still an on-going debate, but I am firmly certain that she herself is not concerned about such futilities. She is famous (quite a lot), rich (unbridled) and her books sell (millions). She is everything an author can ever wish to be.
She writes brilliantly and her books are adored. But will the literary critics ever acknowledge her? Will she ever win the coveted Nobel Prize in literature? Is her work considered literature at all?
Time will tell.