Popular novelist Sophie Lark’s upcoming book, Sparrow and Vine, has been pulled after lines from it circulated on social media and were accused by some of praising billionaire Elon Musk or being racially insensitive.
Newsweek has reached out to Lark’s publisher Bloom Books via email for comment.
Why It Matters
There have been widespread discussions among the online literary community about books, politics and the political nature of reading since the reelection of President Donald Trump. These discussions at times lead to authors being heavily criticized on social media for their political views or depictions of political ideas in their books.
Musk is a key ally of Trump’s and the head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The world’s richest man, he has an expanding presence and influence in American and global politics. He has frequently used his social media platform X, formerly Twitter to share political viewpoints, including support for right-wing movements.
What To Know
Lark is an American author who primarily writes romance novels. She has penned more than two dozen books, both self-published and with Bloom Books, an imprint of the U.S. publisher Sourcebooks.
Some social media users criticized Lark and Sparrow and Vine over two snippets. In the first one, a character says, “I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five-step design process,” and in another piece of dialogue the book says, “But shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”
One TikTok user described her book as “MAGA coded,” while a commenter on Goodreads wrote that Sparrow and Vine “Would have been a good book if it hadn’t been overshadowed by gross inner thoughts and racism.”
Lark, whose work includes the “Kingmakers” and “Underworld” series, has publicly issued an apology on her Instagram page in which she said, “My intention was to craft and demonstrate a flawed main character, but instead, I wrote dialogue that read as attacking a community that I care about very much.”
She said that during the editing process, her publisher had suggested that she remove these lines and that she “made the wrong choice in keeping them.”
What People Are Saying
Sophie Lark, in the apology shared to her Instagram page: “I want to start by saying how much I appreciate this community. Your passion, support, and willingness to engage in meaningful conversations have always meant the world to me. That’s why it’s so important for me to address something I got wrong. It has been brought to my attention that certain lines in Sparrow and Vine were hurtful. Reading your messages and hearing your perspectives over the past twenty-four hours has been humbling, and I want to acknowledge the pain my words have caused. I am truly sorry.”
One Goodreads user commented: “Casual racism and the FMC is a big Elon Musk fan. Always a big No, but even more so given the current state of the world.”
What Happens Next
In the apology shared on her Instagram page, Lark said that she is “pausing this book and this series for some re-writes to ensure that my work doesn’t contribute to harm.”
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
Read the full article here
