Literary agent’s friends pay to put her behind bars

 
20 May 2014

One of the country’s most renowned literary agents is heading to prison — but only for the night. Clare Conville, of Conville & Walsh, is hoping to get locked up in a cell at Hammersmith Magistrates Court, in support of the Book Trade Charity and Howard League for Penal Reform. Money raised will go towards the charities’ work, which includes opposing the ban on books being sent to prisoners, and participants may take in one tome to see them through the night. “I just thought it was ridiculous,” Conville says. “It’s vital that prisoners have access to books, especially those who will remain illiterate otherwise.”

To be in with the chance to be locked up, Conville must raise the most but her friends have been helpful. “Everyone seemed happy to do it,” she says. “People are remarkably keen to have me locked away. It is quite daunting — the building is said to be haunted, but I’m happy to do it.”

And Conville’s choice of book to keep her warm? “The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. I’d rather have something immersive, that makes me laugh, than Crime and Punishment.”

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