LETTER : Fay's favour

IN response to your puzzlingly sycophantic article about Fay Weldon's novel Splitting ("Two Weldons for one in `Splitting' image", 26 March), may I rudely draw the literati's attention to a minor detail. If Ms Weldon disappoints her American fans, she loses sales, which means she loses money. If she offends her European admirers by becoming crassly Americanised, she loses sales, which means she loses money. If she boldly goes where no author has had the brass neck to go before and writes two versions of the same book to appeal to both markets, she makes oodles of lovely cash.

This is blatantly a commercial exercise and no amount of jolly twinkling on Ms Weldon's behalf should prevent this from being pointed out.

Joolz

Bradford, West Yorkshire