Where are they now? Stephen L. Carter author of "The Emperor of Ocean Park"

Continuing with that old series of "Where are they now?" started last year...

When this novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park came out in 2002 it was the talk in many towns across the country.  Carter even dropped into the Hay Festival. Someone I knew then, an aspiring crime fiction writer now published, thought the novel was superb and urged everyone to read it.

I had already bought a copy; but even now, I am ashamed to say, it remains unread.  Sorting through my books in my parents' house the other week, I stumbled across it.  The Emperor of Ocean Park made it with ease into my "save" selection.  It had plenty of superb reviews at the time and a trip across the pond to the Hay Festival was a kind of endorsement, the icing on the cake.  The Yale law professor's novel had attracted a seven figure sum in an auction, so it had to be good, didn't it?  And thus, today, I am wondering what became of Stephen L. Carter's writing career in fiction?

I'd not seen anything in the press - no great trumpet fares in the media to elongate this author's trajectory in the UK - but a Google search focused on the fact that another novel was published in 2007: New England White.  Amazon (UK) tells us that The Literary Review found the novel "An enthralling literary thriller" and The Daily Telegraph declared "Absorbing and beautifully written".  The one, and sadly only Amazon reviewer did not read the novel past the half way stage, giving it two stars, and claimed boredom and repitition.

With five years between books, and with a clamouring set of newbies biting on your heels from all corners of the globe, it can be hard to maintain a presence and reading public awareness.  It's interesting that an author so previously and so publicly lauded can become a cypher of sorts.

I'm not sure I'll make it to New England White, but I'm certainly going to read The Emperor of Ocean Park in the future.  Even a one-off can be an absolute darling of a read, but I hope that The Emperor of Ocean Park will have me wanting more.

Comments

[crimeficreader]

Maxine, I have to admit that I have been put off by the length, previously. Then it sat on a shelf where another set of books took pride of place in front (yes, it was double up time for the shelves). But at least it hasn't suffered from sunlight...

And if the 2007 novel is as long as the first, perhaps it took a long time to write? We never really know how long it takes the first novel to emerge from the writing womb, unless there's some piece of spectacular publicity surrounding publication, after all.

[Maxine Clarke]

How fascinating! I, too, have had this book on my shelf unread for some quite few years-- maybe since first publication, even. Something keeps putting me off starting it, not necessarily the length, but it is long. And you are right, things have been very quiet since then.
I recently read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, which received a lot of hype but apparently did not sell as much as was hoped. I very much enjoyed the book, so hope this author does not suffer a similar fate. If she wrote another, I'd read it.