Mail Online

A FRIEND of mine,

Sebastian Walker, was just starting out as a children’s publisher when his cleaning woman offered some words of advice. ‘You oughta read your neighbour’s book what he wrote for his kids,’ she said. Sebastian’s eyes glazed over. ‘Ever so good, them little girls say it is,’ she continued.

Eventually the neighbour himself shoved the typescript through Sebbie’s door but he refused even to look at it, putting it immediately into the wastepaper basket. Then one day the cleaner told him: ‘Seein’ as ’ow you was so snooty, ’e sent it to some other publisher.’ ‘Who did? What?’ ‘Mr Adams. You know I clean Mr Adams’s house next door as well as yours. ’E sent ’is book about rabbits to someone else, seeing as you wasn’t interested.’

A year later, the whole world was reading Watership Down.

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2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/282162179998249

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