Her declining of the US book deal was, she said, an example of “how these professional choices are personal to us, and how we make them every day”. To these people, hiring someone to check one’s work for sensitivity purposes implies a surrendering of control, a shift in the balance of power.” That’s probably mostly because they’ve never used one, and are misled by the word ‘sensitivity’, which, in a world of toxic masculinity, is often mistaken for weakness. Harris was quoted in the media on her thoughts, and expanded on them on her blog, where she wrote: “I think a lot of people (some of them authors, most of them not) misunderstand the role of a sensitivity reader. Harris said she chose to make the decision public on the back of a discussion on social media prompted by John Boyne, the author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, criticising the increasing use by authors and publishers of “sensitivity readers” to ensure that they are representing certain groups correctly or to avoid causing offence. There has been a flurry of censorious action in the US against books in recent weeks, ranging from the controversial Tennessee pastor Greg Locke leading a mass book-burning of copies of Harry Potter and Twilight because of their supposed “demonic influences”, to a spate of book-bannings by schools, which some American teenagers are kicking back against. “I don’t remotely feel as if I’ve been ‘cancelled’.”

“I made my choice and so did they,” she said.

Her sad past and that of colleagues, plus some nasty secrets, make a lethal combination. Harris said that she did not feel offended by the request from the publisher, which she described as a house with a strong “cosy” branding, adding, “I understand, but that’s not me”. A Narrow Door features an old fashioned school clinging to its past glories, with a woman head teacher whos had to fight every inch of her way to the top job.

A narrow door joanne harris amazon