Meghan Markle's book, 'The Bench', critically exhausted
The reviews are scathing. "The story is so lacking in action and peril that you almost wonder if the writing work has been delegated to a piece of furniture," commented Alex O'Connell, critic for The Times, after the release of the new book. of the Duchess of Sussex.
Combining story and illustration in watercolors, Meghan Markle's first book titled “The Bench” is about “the special bond that exists between a father and his son.” A nice tribute to the relationship between Prince Harry and their 2 year old boy, Archie.
The success was promising, however. “It all started with a poem I wrote for my husband on Father's Day,” recalls Meghan Markle, explaining how she came up with the idea to write this tale.
But nothing goes as planned. Overwhelmed by ruthless British criticism, the children's book struggles to find its readers.
First accused of having plagiarized the book “The Boy on the Bench” by Corrine Averiss and Gabriel Alborozo, Meghan Markle was then suspected of having written this book for the sole purpose of collecting a huge sum of money . She would have received "a colossal advance of 500,000 pounds sterling", argues Angela Levin, biographer of Prince Harry, to the newspaper The Sun.
Will what was supposed to be a bestseller turn on the flop? Due to lack of buyers, some English bookstores have bet on a promotional offer "one bought, the other at half price", report the Daily Mail and Here magazine.
“A humorless book”
“Hypocrite and ridiculous”, these are the terms used by the experts of the Royal family to describe the posture of the Duchess throughout this book. Piers Morgan, a specialist on the “Royals” pages in the Daily Mail tabloid, wonders to what extent “these touching feelings will resonate in her own family or that of her husband.” And to recall: “let us not forget that Mrs. Markle has ruthlessly disowned her father Thomas and refuses to have anything to do with him tonight, although they no longer live only 70 miles from one of the other." Others add, pointing to the tensions that remain between Prince Harry and Prince Charles.
Appalled at the low level of content in the book, freelance journalist Claire Allfree even wonders "how a publisher could ever see fit to publish this set of mismatched rhyming and grammar-defying homilies."
“Meghan Markle's humorless book could make an entire generation hate reading,” Ella Whelan said in a Telegraph article, regretting that thousands of families might still want to buy it.
Congratulations to children's book author, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, on the launch of her first book, #TheBench. 🥳🎉🥂😍 pic.twitter.com/C9eJfbtUA2
— Lil Di's Era Has Begun 😇 (@meghaven247) June 8, 2021
Beautiful illustrations!!#TheBench 📙🤎 https://t.co/cWE65faOfR
— 🧇🐊 Brooklyn 🧇🐊 (@micheleer3) June 8, 2021
On Twitter, the opinions are however rather positive, and many are defending the young mother. “Beautiful illustrations,” comments one of them. “Stop falling into the traps of so-called English journalists”, defends Charlotte. “Her book is a bestseller in many countries,” observes Eva. Without specifying its sources.
