The Editor

By: Steven Rowley

Narrated by: Michael Urie

A poignant, highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever…

‘Delicately observed’ Sunday Times

‘Laugh-out-loud funny and searingly poignant’ Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six

One of PopSugar’s ‘Buzzy Books to Read This Spring’‘A sweet and charming novel, perfect for fans of Jackie O and Rowley's first novel, Lily and the Octopus, alike’ PopSugar

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After years of struggling as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally gets his big break when his novel sells to an editor at a major publishing house:none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie, or Mrs. Onassis as she's known in the office, loves James's candidly autobiographical novel, about his own dysfunctional family.

As Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. But when a long-held family secret is revealed, he realises his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the last minute…

©2019 Steven Rowley (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

‘Steven Rowley sweetly evokes a mature Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 1990s New York, James Smale is an obscure first-time novelist, but his editor is world-famous. In this delicately observed tale the steely Jackie becomes not just the midwife of the angsty gay Smale’s manuscript, but of a wider reconciliation’ Sunday Times

‘At equal turns laugh-out-loud funny and searingly poignant, Rowley has created a truly unforgettable story of a son trying to understand his mother. The Editor is one of those exceptional stories that is both a joy to read on every page and also deeply profound and significant. It took my breath away.’ Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six

‘Told with warmth and humour, Steven Rowley’s charming second novel tells the story of a mother-son reconciliation, facilitated by a most unlikely fairy godmother. The Editor offers a delightful fictional glimpse of an iconic American family – but it is, at heart, a tribute to every family whose last name isn’t Kennedy’ Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists

‘Filled with whimsy and warmth, centers on the complex relationship between a fledgling writer and his fabulous editor. Oh, and she happens to be Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but that’s Mrs. Onassis to you’ O, The Oprah Magazine

‘The Editor is an absolute triumph! By page three, I announced aloud, “I LOVE THIS BOOK.” And it didn't stop even after I finished it. Rowley is a master of creating characters you fall in love with, and never want to leave. The Editor is irresistible.’ Julie Klam, author of The Stars In Our Eyes and You Had Me at Woof

‘A poignant tale … Rowley deliberately mines the sentiment of the mother/son bond, but skillfully saves it from sentimentality; this is a winning dissection of family, forgiveness, and fame’ Publishers Weekly (starred review)