Australian writer Nikki Gemmell discusses the impact of her 2001 novel, 'The Bride Stripped Bare,' which was published anonymously and caused considerable controversy due to its explicit sex scenes. Gemmell acknowledges both the book's success in connecting with readers and the damage it caused to her reputation within the literary industry.
Gemmell says she hasn't read The Bride Stripped Bare since it was published. "I was mortified by that book."It was The Bride Stripped Bare, a fictional diary of a suburban London housewife who embarks on an affair with a younger Spanish man.
"I lost a lot of cred within the literary industry. I still think there are people who sneer over it and don't understand.""I do see it as a blessing, because it really connected with readers, and that's what we as writers want to do.Gemmell wrote The Bride Stripped Bare while on maternity leave from her job as a journalist at the BBC World Service in London.
"I was in this little expat bubble in London. I had my beautiful man and my gorgeous little baby, and we were in this little nest of togetherness," she says. "I came across a line, 'Anonymity is a woman's refuge', and it was like a light bulb went off in my head," she says.Gemmell saw a parallel with another powerful act of creation she'd recently experienced: giving birth.
"I could be experimental, I could be audacious, I could be cheeky and say things that I would never say with my name attached to them. I just let rip, and that process of writing felt so strong and viscerally powerful," she says. Find her they did. In the ensuing frenzy, Gemmell and her family endured a barrage of door knocks and phone calls from journalists who were on her tail.
Literature Controversy Australian Author Anonymity Sexual Content Publishing Industry
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