Best-Selling Romance Author Sophie Lark & Bloom Books Kill Free Speech

”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,” reported Newsweek recently. 

It is hard to weigh in on a controversy when I lack original source material, namely an advance review copy of the book, but it really does not matter when it comes to these types of cancellation and self-censorship cases.  

First, it is a novel, so start with that. This is make-believe stuff. Novels throughout history have said awful things, depicted acts of horrific violence, spewed ignorance and hate, and have given oxygen to outrageous ideas opposed by the masses. If something offends you, don’t buy or read it. Give it bad reviews. Protest, if you wish. But publishers and authors should not backtrack on a planned book’s publication simply because a few loudmouths complain. 

Second, embrace free speech and stop caving the minute some people say they don’t like what you wrote. Have some conviction about your craft. 

Third, from what I have read about this shitstorm, the objected-to lines really amount to nothing. You can remove half of the books out there based on this measurement of something being “offensive.” 

Good for the author here, to originally ignore the sensitivity teams employed by wussy woke publishers, but she gets booed now for either actually voluntarily pulling the book or for making it seem like you want your book pulled so the publisher doesn’t take heat for actually canceling it. But do us a favor, don’t re-issue the book after you scrub it of soul, and sanitize it for those who won’t buy it anyway. 

The New York Times said this:

“Criticism of the book began to build on social media in recent days as readers who had gotten advanced copies posted lines from the novel and blasted it with negative reviews. In one excerpt that outraged readers, a character makes insensitive remarks about undocumented laborers, saying, “Shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

“In another bit of dialogue that readers took issue with, a character notes, “I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five step design process.” Musk, the billionaire leader of SpaceX, Tesla and X, has become an increasingly polarizing figure after throwing his weight behind President Trump and leading an initiative to downsize the federal work force.

 

“In some one-star reviews of the book on Goodreads, readers slammed the admiring reference to Musk as insensitive in the current political environment. Others questioned why Lark would leave the characters’ comments unchallenged by others, and said they were skeptical that the author didn’t realize the lines were offensive.“ 

Folks, we need to understand what it means to have the creative arts. Writers put out all kinds of ideas and content and the masses react by adopting and embracing some things while rejecting or ignoring others. That is fine. In an economy of ideas, may the best win out. But when a few self-anointed jurors kill a book just as it is about to be released, not because of the merits of the story, but because a few readers politicize a few lines in a romance novel, something is wrong in America.  

Bloom Books, the publisher, chose not to exercise its editing authority in advance of the book’s release and deferred to the artist’s wishes on the content. Was the publisher being irresponsible or was it commendable to support its author? Either way, only the publisher has the authority to pull the book, not the author, and this weak publisher has turned in its First Amendment card. 

All of this is just a reminder of what a hostile environment our writers and publishers operate under, where anyone can shut anyone down, sometimes with little cause. But it also shows the publishers and writers are willing to capitulate and have no backbone. Free speech is dying from the inside. 

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

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