Ian Rankin relaunches the novel he once hoped to bury

The author now sees his ‘lost’ book Westwind as pacey and prescient

It is an unusual promotional gambit before a book launch. Ian Rankin has revealed that he once disowned his novel, Westwind, and hoped it would “never … see the light of day again”.

When he first produced the manuscript, 30 years ago, he was told to change it so many times that he started “to lose belief in my abilities” and began “doubting my future as a publishable writer”, he has said. Only 1,000 hardbacks were printed when it was first published in 1990.

Continue reading...