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Author denies plagiarism claim
28/11/2006 10:32 - (SA)
London - British novelist Ian McEwan on
Monday denied claims that he copied the work of another author
when writing his acclaimed bestseller Atonement.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Lucilla Andrews had been
planning to draw attention to the similarities between her
autobiography No Time For Romance and sections of Atonement at an awards ceremony.
But the elderly writer fell ill and died last month aged 86.
Her former agent Vanessa Holt said that Andrews, who made a
living from so-called "hospital romances", had been aware of the
parallels between her autobiography and Atonement about a year before she died, after a student drew attention to them.
But Holt denied Andrews had been planning to make a public
swipe at McEwan, one of the country's most revered authors.
"She may have taken a different view if she had been
younger, but she was elderly when she found out," Holt said.
When asked what she thought of McEwan's rebuttal, printed on
the front page of Monday's Guardian newspaper, Holt replied: "I
think I remain of the opinion that it was discourteous from one
writer to another not to seek her approval."
She added that the matter was unlikely to go any further.
The claim is the latest plagiarism controversy to hit the
literary world. US author Dan Brown appeared in court in
London in February and March to deny accusations he copied
wholesale to write his bestseller The Da Vinci Code.
Brown won the high-profile case against two historians,
although they have said they would appeal against the verdict.
McEwan, 58, said Andrews was a source of "inspiration" for
his novel and its characters.
"An inspiration, yes. Did I copy from another author? No,"
he said on his website (www.ianmcewan.com).
While researching Atonement, his 2001 work shortlisted for
the Booker prize for fiction, he came across No Time For
Romance in an Oxford library and drew on its descriptions of
life in a London hospital during World War Two.
"As with the Dunkirk section, I drew on the scenes she
described," he wrote in his rebuttal.
"For certain long-outdated medical practices, she was my
sole source and I have always been grateful to her."
He added that he acknowledged his debt to Andrews in the
author's note at the end of Atonement and spoke about her in numerous interviews.
"My one regret is not meeting her," he continued. "But if
people are now talking about Lucilla Andrews, I am glad."
As with The Da Vinci Code, Atonement is being adapted into a Hollywood movie, starring Keira Knightley. It is due for release in August and September 2007.
- Reuters
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South Africa
