Fans of Meghan Markle were thrilled at the news that the Duchess of Sussex is releasing her first children’s book, yet critics have already taken the opportunity to trash Markle’s work online.
People are taking to social media to accuse Markle of plagiarizing her book, which is titled The Bench. Critics claim that the book holds striking similarities to The Boy on the Bench by Corrinne Averiss and Gabriel Alborozo, published in 2018.
Emma Kaye Wootton, an online critic, shared her belief that Markle owns “The Boy on the Bench” and copied it intentionally. She wrote, “I’ll wager a bet that Corrinne’s book is in Archie’s collection. That’s where her idea came from. I don’t believe that this is all her own thinking or reflects her idyllic life whatsoever.”’
The Boy on the Bench is about a little boy named Tom who is not brave enough to join in with his friends on the playground and play; it has very little to do with his relationship with his father. The only similarity is that the books share an illustrator.
While critics jumped to the conclusion that Markle’s book was a copycat publication, Markle didn’t have to defend herself. Corrinne Averiss, the author of “The Boy on the Bench,” actually jumped to her defense instead.
Averiss tweeted, “Reading the description and published excerpt of the Duchess’s new book, this is not the same story or the same theme as ‘The Boy on the Bench.’ I don’t see any similarities.”
According to Markle, her book, “The Bench” started as a poem she was writing for her husband for Father’s Day. The story is about the relationship between a father and son as seen through the eyes of the mother.
Meanwhile, “The Boy on the Bench” is about a boy named Tom who sits on a park bench with his dad, not sure how to join the kids playing on the playground. During the story he learns to concur his fears.
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Source: AWM
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