The Bench failed to even make it to the top 50 best-selling books in the country, which is quite unusual for a publication authored by such a famous person (yesterday Meghan was recognized as the most popular person in the ranks of the British royal family ).
At the same time, Megan’s book was on the list of the most popular illustrated books. However, for Penguin Random House Children’s, which decided to publish the Duchess’s book, this is a completely disappointing result, since very few picture books have been published recently.
To somehow remedy the situation, the publishers are planning a large-scale promotion of Meghan Markle’s book around the world, although they have the right to publish it only in English.
Among the reasons why Meghan Markle’s book “did not shoot”, journalists also name the scandal that occurred between the publishing house Penguin Random House Children’s and the largest British bookseller, the Waterstones bookstore chain, as a result of which the PRH editions disappeared from prominent places in almost 300 stores.
Across the country, occupying inconspicuous places on the distant shelves. However, critics and readers have already subjected Megan’s book to harsh criticism, calling “The Bench” “a semi-literate, vain project.”
Summing up the sales of “The Bench”, foreign media recalled that Princess Diana’s book was sold in 80 countries and sold over seven million copies. And the book-photo album of the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020 (“Stay in place: a portrait of our nation in 2020”), which went on sale on May 7, became a bestseller on the first day, taking first place in sales in the most popular online store Amazon.
Meghan Markle’s first literary work is a children’s book called The Bench. According to the author, the birth of the first child became the impetus for literary creativity, and the inspiration was the observation of the relationship between the father, Prince Harry, and the son, Prince Archie.
This was stated in the official press release of the American publishing house Random House Children’s Books.
The Bench began as a poem I wrote for Harry a month after Archie was born. It was Father’s day and I just wanted to express my feelings, says Meghan Markle.
The Duchess expressed the hope that “this story will resonate in every family, regardless of its position, finances and composition.”
The book contains 40 illustrated pages, designed by the artist Christian Robinson. For the artist, he said, it was “an honor to paint the illustrations for that book.”