Great piece! What an ethical minefield. My first love (book wise) was Virginia Andrews. I devoured her books when I was a kid and a young teenager. She died in the 80s and left a lot of unpublished, unfinished work which her family spent years rehashing and churning out. It always felt distasteful to me, like she was a cash cow that they resist milking. The quality of the posthumous stuff was poor. But, I can see the value in carrying on unfinished work if it has a deeper meaning. My much loved Aunty Amy, who died of cancer when I was 19, was a keen knitter. She’d half knitted a baby cardigan, which my mother completed five years after her death, as a gift for my newborn daughter. She was born on Amy’s birthday.
Agree with you re: brand authors and milking the cash cow. I think it often becomes a case of diminishing returns for public and publisher alike. Agatha Christie’s estate have now enlighten Sophie Hannah to continue publishing books as part of the AG ‘universe’ - seems needless when there are already so many written by the woman herself!!
Great piece! What an ethical minefield. My first love (book wise) was Virginia Andrews. I devoured her books when I was a kid and a young teenager. She died in the 80s and left a lot of unpublished, unfinished work which her family spent years rehashing and churning out. It always felt distasteful to me, like she was a cash cow that they resist milking. The quality of the posthumous stuff was poor. But, I can see the value in carrying on unfinished work if it has a deeper meaning. My much loved Aunty Amy, who died of cancer when I was 19, was a keen knitter. She’d half knitted a baby cardigan, which my mother completed five years after her death, as a gift for my newborn daughter. She was born on Amy’s birthday.
What a beautiful story about the cardigan!
Agree with you re: brand authors and milking the cash cow. I think it often becomes a case of diminishing returns for public and publisher alike. Agatha Christie’s estate have now enlighten Sophie Hannah to continue publishing books as part of the AG ‘universe’ - seems needless when there are already so many written by the woman herself!!
That story about the cardigan gave me goosebumps ❤️
This is a really interesting subject that I hadn't thought about before. Thank you.