Publishers around the world have withdrawn a bestselling memoir after an exhaustive investigation by an Australian newspaper concluded that both the author and her book were fakes.
Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint, Random House Australia and Transworld in the U.K. were among the houses to cease shipment of the book and ask that stores withdraw the memoir by Norma Khouri, Honor Lost (published as Forbidden Love in Australia, where it has sold nearly 200,000 copies).
The controversy broke 10 days ago, when the Sydney Morning Herald ran the results of an 18-month probe debunking Khouri's tale of how she, a Jordanian, fled her country after a business partner was murdered for having a chaste affair with a Christian.
An S&S spokesperson said that it was pulling the book "pending receipt of evidence that the book is a true representation of her life." But according to people familiar with the situation, publishers are skeptical that new evidence will be forthcoming. The Herald offered a litany of proof that the author did not start any business in Jordan, actually lived most of her life in Chicago, and has a husband, children and friends in the U.S. Many characters in the book, it suggested, were invented.
The newspaper's story caused an uproar in Australia, where the author lives, and may even cause a review of her status. (Random helped sponsor her temporary visa). Khouri has remained out of the public eye since the scandal broke.
The furor is likely once again to raise questions about the lack of a fact-checking system in publishing as well as whether, in this age of global rights, houses are too removed from authors.
Adam Rothberg, the S&S spokesperson, said that the book sold about 50,000 copies since it was released in February 2004 and is not a big backlist seller. Khouri does have a book due out next month from Random Australia called A Matter of Honour. That book was in the process of being rewritten, said a source, after an initial submission was deemed unpublishable, though for reasons of literary quality, not veracity.
