Holly Wainwright

And Burdens, so strangers, is about the breakdown of a marriage and the internet's decided that it's not as exciting as it sounded because the deserted wife in question is very rich, richy, rich, rich, and therefore the stakes were low.

All this leads me to a piece I read by UK writer Polly Vernon called Women Shouldn't Write Books.

And in that, she talks about her experiences of publishing a controversial book and getting lots and lots of backlash for it.

My question is, we can get to that in a minute.

My question is, Amelia, are you not allowed to hate strangers, for example, or yesteryear, think it's not a good book or that the premise is questionable because you are then not supporting the women's?

No, but no, it definitely doesn't.

But I think one of the things that the people who are supporting this view of it would say is that rather than people just saying, I didn't like this book, it wasn't for me, shrug.

They're like...

She should never have been allowed to write this book.

The advance was ridiculous.

She's making all this money.

And it becomes like a personal attack about her.

Yeah, but those are the ones that hurt the most, the ones where they get it right and they press on a bruise.

But there are a lot of two-star reviews and stuff that'll just be like, I don't like her.

Yes.

Like about authors and about podcasters and about whatever.

Or I hate that female character because blah.

Like there are, I think that there is a difference between criticism that hurts you and like for context here, obviously, we're all writers of different kinds and Claire and I have published books.

There is a difference.

Yeah, exactly.