Margaret Atwood opened up about a surprising and stressful moment that happened before the release of her novel The Testaments.
The move highlighted how uncertain things can get behind the scenes of a major book.
The book was highly anticipated, so there was already a lot of pressure to keep everything safe and private.
At that time, publishers were also dealing with a worrying situation, with some people were trying to steal unpublished books by pretending to be professionals from the industry.
Because of this, extra care was taken with Atwood’s manuscript and it was kept very secret and even shared under a different name, “The Casements by Victoria Lockett”, so no one would guess what it really was.
Things became even more concerning when Atwood accidentally left her laptop on a plane.
The laptop, however, got the manuscript inside, which made the situation feel serious very quickly.
For a short time, there was real concern about the book being lost or getting into the wrong hands. Luckily, airline staff found the laptop and returned it safely.
In the end, The Testaments was released in 2019 and went on to become a big success.
The whole situation shows how much effort goes into protecting important work before it reaches readers.
