Happy Publication to ROUSSEAU’S LOST CHILDREN

After a (to say the least) interesting journey from essay in Paris Review, to non-fiction book proposal, to novel that reads as if it was always conceived to be as it is, Gavin McCrea’s third novel, Rousseau’s Lost Children, is out from John Murray Press - with Nathan Smith’s review in the Irish Times praising how it packs a “heavy emotional punch, producing a deeply affecting account of power and connection and its ability to entrap us, even in love.”

I love this deep interview with Naoise Dolan in The Irish Times, and the way she captures Gavin’s longterm thinking and seriousness (wanting to make fiction “a space of curiosity not sanctimony”) but also his humour, and yearning for Paris. She talks to Gavin about how this book morphed from non-fiction to novel.

Huge thanks to editor Sarah Caro for asking Gavin to write a non-fiction book about Rousseau. We’re sorry it didn’t work out but we hope you agree that this is better. Thanks for your lovely Instagram post. You’re not just in the acknowledgements, you’re also a character - because this is one of those meta novels where the mechanics of book-making are brought out from behind the scenes and play a role. More reviews to come, but here’s the Spectator: