In "The Independent" Peter Carey's ex-wife, Alison Summers, takes a swipe at the author, accusing him of using his fiction to settle some old scores. According to one friend: "He has trashed the ex-wife to clear the way for a popular welcome for his new partner."
Nasty stuff. The trouble is, can an author ignore a major life experience in his fiction? Should they be ultra discrete? Does it matter?
The final piece of news is that Summers is now writing a novel of her own, titled Mrs Jekyll. "I never would have started my own novel if it hadn't been for the past few years."
Trouble is, you can't slag someone off for doing something and then go on to do exactly the same thing, without copping a large amount of flack yourself. We await the novel with interest.
