Editor (Rowley) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Filled with whimsy and warmth, the Lily and the Octopus author’s second novel centers on the complex relationship between a fledgling writer and his fabulous editor, the latter of whom becomes a mentor, friend, and maternal figure. Oh, and she happens to be Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but that’s Mrs. Onassis to you.
Oprah Magazine


Steven Rowley is the best-selling author of Lily and the Octopus, and he's honestly outdone himself with The Editor.
Cosmopolitan


[A] delightful slice of historical fiction (Must List).
Entertainment Weekly


[A] sharp, funny sophomore novel.
Town and Country


A journey of self-discovery.… Ultimately a story not about celebrity but about family and forgiveness.
Time


The Editor… sweetly evokes a mature Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 1990s New York, James Smale is an obscure first-time novelist, but his editor is world-famous. In this delicately observed tale the steely Jackie becomes not just the midwife of the angsty gay Smale's manuscript, but of a wider reconciliation.
Sunday Times (UK)


(Starred review) [A] poignant tale of a new author’s breakout hit… under the guidance of… Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.… Rowley deliberately mines the sentiment of the mother/son bond, but skillfully saves it from sentimentality; this is a winning dissection of family, forgiveness, and fame.
Publishers Weekly


[A] struggling young writer James Smale suddenly [lucks] out when editor Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis buys his novel. But he's drawn heavily on his own dysfunctional family and can't face finishing the manuscript, so Mrs. Onassis sends him home to address his conflicted relationship with his mother.
Library Journal


While diving deep into questions of identity, loyalty, and absolution within the bonds of family, Rowley… soars to satisfying heights in this deeply sensitive depiction of the symbiotic relationships at the heart of every good professional, and personal partnership.
Booklist


As this novel is already on its way to the screen, one can only hope that the first few scenes come off better on film than they do on paper…. Even if you have Jackie Kennedy—and this is a particularly sensitive and nuanced portrait of her—you still have to have a plot.
Kirkus Reviews