From Facebook to fiction: Paige Nick turns online book clubs into comedy gold in her new novel. Photo: Liza
van Deventer
After her novel, Unpresidented, came out in 2017, novelist and columnist Paige Nick had no idea what to write next.
Then, one day in 2023, the idea for her latest novel Book People was born. Based on a fictional online book club, it is a comedy about a group of book lovers who literally lose the plot.
The novel is based on The Good Book Appreciation Society on Facebook, an online book club Nick founded in 2012.
Set in London, the novel essentially gives a worst-case scenario of some authors’ inability to handle negative reviews, cancel culture and the impact of online book clubs.
The satirical novel follows Norma Jacobs, an average accountant, running a book club on Facebook and living quietly with her gamer boyfriend.
As she starts a new job as the only 42-year-old intern in the history of publishing, Norma is being threatened by deranged author Harry Shields and questioned by the police about an attempted murder.
Shields, a struggling crime writer, is haunted by negative reviews of his latest book on Norma’s online book club leading to a public meltdown. Along with his upcoming book events, Shields gets cancelled as an author, ensuing a wild ride of plotting revenge and stalking his nemesis until someone ends up in a coma.
I caught up with Nick to find out more about her writing process, character development and the role of online book clubs, including the evolving reading culture.
What inspired this beautifully written and funny novel and how long did it take to write?
“The famous ‘they’ always says you should write what you know and since I run a book club on Facebook called The Good Book Appreciation Society, I took ‘they’s’ advice. I woke up one day and thought, “Hey, why not write a book set in a book club on Facebook called, The Good Book Appreciation Society?’
“Once I’m obsessed with an idea and settle down to start writing it, a first draft comes out quite quickly — I’d say in a couple of months.
“But then the rewriting, crafting, editing and finding a home for it takes much longer — I’d say about nine months to a year in all.
Your characters are dynamic and others quite frustrating, such as Steve and Harry, take us through your process of developing these male characters as a female writer?
“I think about that a lot, both when I’m writing male characters and specifically when I’m reading male characters written by women, or female characters written by men. I turn those pages inside out, looking for clues on how to do it. I think Dolly Alderton [Good Material] does it really well.
“I generally feel like writers do a good job, although I find, as a reader, one of the harder things for writers to nail (if you’ll pardon the pun) is men writing sex scenes from a woman’s perspective.
“We all have men in our lives and I do my best to inhabit them and get them on the page as honestly as possible.
The protagonist Norma is unfulfilled by her career in accounting and is an aspiring author. How close is Norma’s character to Paige Nick?
“Norma(l) is me, but not me at all. Because she manages the online book club like I do, I needed to make her as different from me as possible, so I decided to give her a job I could no sooner fly to the moon than do, something like accountancy. I can barely get from one to 10 without the use of my fingers. I actively set out to make her life very different from mine.
The novel’s setting is in London with one character, Norma, originally from South Africa. What informed this decision for the location?
“This goes back to the conversation we were having about the similarities between Norma and me. I needed us to be really different, so she couldn’t live in South Africa.
I’m also going through a phase in my writing where I only want to write books set in the UK. Book People, and both manuscripts I’ve been busy with since I finished Book People, are set in the UK. I’m not sure what that’s about — I should ask my therapist.”
Harry is having difficulty with bad reviews and rejection of his work. As an author, have you ever had your work rejected or had a stinging bad review? If so, how did you recover?
“I’ve had a few negative reviews over the years and have of course faced manuscript rejection — if you’re going to write a pile of books and a column, it’s to be expected.
“But, honestly, and I mean this, I’m okay with negative reviews. I’ve spent a lifetime in advertising having my ideas rejected, so I’m used to that.
“But, more than that, I like the idea that someone is engaging with my work. It’s a great compliment, even if they don’t love it as much as I’d hoped.
“I do my best with every book I write and I’m lucky enough to work with the best publishers and the best editors in the business, who do their best too.
“So, once the book is out there in the world, there’s not much more I can do about it other than learn from my mistakes and start the next one.”
The real GBAS on Facebook is calmer than the fictional one in the book. In your view, how important are such online book clubs?
“I spend a massive chunk of my time running an online book club for free, so that should give you an idea of how important I think it is.
“The small communities in my life are so important to me; my book friends, my swim club friends, GBAS, they’ve been life changing.
“And I get so many messages from people on the club who talk about how it’s their happy place online too, especially in the midst of all the ugliness out there.
“Then there are the countless favourite books I’ve read that I never would have reached for if it hadn’t been for the club. It’s become so much part of my daily life and book selection process, I’m not sure I could live without it.”
Through the characters, you highlight the evolution of reading culture. What is your view on the changing reading behaviours?
“BookTok is a marvel, a marvel I tell you. I’m fascinated by this subject and by trying to understand how Gen Z and Millennials consume content so differently to the way we do. But mostly I’m relieved they like to read just as much as we always have, only in different ways. Phew, the world will be fine in the end.”
Book People is published by Pan Macmillan South Africa.