Literary hoax of the week
Fans of Spanish novelist Carmen Mola got a shock when they learned thatand (pictured, left to right) – says The Guardian. Mola’s ultra-violent thrillers had become hugely popular, helped in part by the author’s apparent identity as a mother of three and university professor who preferred to remain anonymous. But when Mola’s latest unpublished novel won the €1m (£845,000) Planeta prize last week (from Spain’s largest publisher), the truth was revealed. As well asthe cash – worth more than the Nobel prize for literature – the men won a contract for the new book, leaving their current publisher Penguin Random House for Planeta.
