Posted on July 20, 2021 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Author John Boyne probably didn’t expect a novel with a transgender main character to make no splash whatsoever.
But he certainly wasn’t anticipating accusations of bigotry, online harassment, or death threats.
Boyne told the Guardian the reaction to My Brother’s Name is Jessica was the first time he’d faced such strong negativity and that it was deeply depressing.
But he’d still write the novel again, he said — and the experience had a clear influence on his next book, The Echo Chamber, which comes out August 5.
In it, a married father’s tweet spawns a similarly angry reaction, including from his daughter’s online accounts.
Boyne describes his new relationship with the online world and how My Brother’s Name Is Jessica contributed to those feelings in the Guardian.
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Categories: Author Interview