Beth Brower’s ‘The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion’ Is BookTok’s New Obsession—Here’s Why
From plot points to book count, here’s everything you need to know about the internet’s latest historical fiction obsession
Key Takeaways
- ‘Emma M. Lion’ has become one of BookTok's biggest historical fiction sensations.
- The series includes eight journal-style novels, all available on Kindle Unlimited.
- Readers say the charming Victorian story is impossible to stop reading once you begin.
If you’ve been on BookTok in the last couple of months, chances are good you’ve either seen or heard about the series The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by American author Beth Brower. Not only is it taking the internet by storm, but it’s also become one of the first viral historical fiction series in BookTok history. But what are the Emma M. Lion books? How many installments are there? And are more on the way? We share everything you need to know below.
What is ‘The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion?’
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion is a series of books set in 1883 and told in the form of a journal written by our main character, Emma. In them, Emma reveals why her return to her Lapis Lazuli House, in the fictional English neighborhood of St. Crispian’s, was less than stellar. It also reveals details about her past and asks the question, “What happens when the thing you’ve been waiting for doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to?”
There are currently eight volumes in the series—all of which have the name The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion followed by their installment number—and all are available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited.
“[I] had this idea circling in my head of a woman writing her journal, which I thought would be a little side project. Then one day I imagined this door, and it was in a shop opening out on Whereabouts Lane [a side street in the Emma M. Lion books] and this young woman was walking by,” Brower told The Bookseller of how the books came to be. “I followed her home, and suddenly all of St. Crispian’s was there. It was populated. All the characters were there, doing their thing, and it was my job to wander around, take notes and try to not get in their way…and it obligated me to see the story to the end.”
Volume one in the series, which was self-published by Brower in 2019, has more than 100,000 ratings on Goodreads, with readers calling it “A very sweet, quirky and clever story” in the reviews.
Why did Brower decide to self-publish?
“I created Emma M. Lion with the freedom to make it what it needed to be, without having to reshape [it] to fit through the door of a particular publisher,” Brower told The Bookseller. “I had this inner compass pointing me to become an indie author but was resisting. Indie films have great respect; indie music is cool. But indie authors were seen to be at the bottom of the pile: You’re doing it because you can’t make it. But then I started looking into it more and came to realise self-publishing was not what I thought it was. And I had this increasing feeling that being an indie author might get me where I want to go faster—and I’ll have more fun doing it.”
Currently, the American versions of Emma M. Lion books are printed by Rhysdon Press, which was created by Brower back when she first started writing. Since then, the indie imprint has become increasingly popular, but it won’t publish the international editions of the series.
“I felt that Emma was on the cusp of a big international wave. America is a huge market, and with self-publishing there are so many things to pay attention to that it doesn’t make sense to try and learn how to do them for every single country,” Brower explained. “I wanted the chance to participate in some traditional publishing and give my books that international momentum.”
How many books are in ‘The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion?’
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion currently has eight installments and according to the authors website a ninth is coming. As for how many books there will be in the series, book influencers have said that they have heard they could be at least 20.
“We are at book 8 out of potentially upwards of 24, so I think there’s a lot of characters we haven’t met yet. There’s a lot to be decided,” book influencer Brady Lockerby, who has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, said in her video about the series. “That probably sounds like a lot, but I promise that every single one of us that has read this series would read 100 of these books.”
Where to read ‘The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion’
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion are available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited. You can also get physical copies wherever books are sold.
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