The Book of Forgotten Authors: A Review

 RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes people think you’re dead. So begins Christopher Fowler’s foray into the back catalogues and back stories of 99 authors who, once hugely popular, have all but disappeared from shelves.

            We are fondly introduced to each potential rediscovery from lost Victorian voices to the twentieth century writers who could well become the next John Williams. Hans Fallada, or Lionel Davidson. Whether male or female, flash-in-the-pan or prolific, mega-seller or prize-winner, no author, it seems, can ever be fully immune from the fate of being forgotten.

            These 99 journeys are punctuated by 12 short essays about faded once-favourites, including the now-vanished novels Walt Disney brought to the screen, the contemporary rivals of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie who did not stand the test of time, and the women who introduced psychological suspense many decades before it conquered the world. This is a book about books and their authors. It is for book lovers and is written by one who could not be a more enthusiastic, enlightening, and entertaining guide. 

 

I got this book as a Christmas present a few years ago from my aunt. I love the idea that the book contained the stories of authors who had since fallen out of the limelight. After reading the book, I can truthfully say that I had never heard of the majority of the authors discussed in the book. There were so many authors that should have been firm favourites who instead went out of print. Originally, this book was published as a series of newspaper articles published in the UK by Christopher Fowler but was later collated as a book. 

 

The book focuses on 99 authors and there is a profile on each of them. The profiles are like mini biographies which contain a summary of the authors’ main works. In the short chapters, Christopher Fowler describes each of the authors’ eccentricities, how their life impacted their work, and, most importantly, why the author should be remembered. The collection focuses on authors from all sorts of genres and time periods. It covers authors who only published a couple of novels to prolific authors who wrote hundreds of books over the years. 

 

After reading this book, I now have a list of authors and their novels that I want to read. There are so many who have books that sound amazing, books that you would think would stand the test of time. There are so many authors out there who have books that have inspired others, inspired movies, TV shows and so much more, yet they are largely forgotten about. This book puts them back into the spotlight, introducing them to new fans. There are some authors within the book who are out of print, but their books can still be found in charity shops, in libraries, online and other places. 

 

I loved reading this book. While it took me a while to read because of university deadlines, extra shifts at work, Christmas and my birthday, I enjoyed it. It was an easy read with short chapters, making it a book that you could take a break from without forgetting what it was about. I recommend this book to anyone who loves finding new authors and genres to read. 

Until next time, I'll continue reading with wanderlust.

📚🧳✈️🗺