Children of Stephen King, Jodi Picoult and John Le Carre are breaking into the literary world as nepo novelists
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Hollywood, music and film have long been scorned for the dominance of 'nepo babies' in the industry - but they've long been present in the literary scene too.
These nepo book babies include the likes of Stephen King's sons Joe and Owen, Jodi Picoult's daughter Samantha and John Le Carre's son Nicholas, who are all trying their luck at writing novels.
The debate around 'nepo (nepotism) babies' has taken the world by storm in recent years with many in the spotlight thought to have been given a leg-up by their famous parents.
The literary nepo babies have certainly been at least partly inspired by their parents - with some co-writing with them, and even writing sequels to their most famous works.
But others have struggled in coming to terms with their literary inheritance - even changing their name in an attempt to forge a career in their own right.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at all the authors you never realised were literary nepo babies.
JOE AND OWEN KING
FAMOUS PARENT: Stephen King
Stephen King and his wife Tabitha share three children - and two of them are authors. Stephen is pictured with son Joe Hill
Stephen King and his wife Tabitha share three children - and two of them are authors.
Joe, 52, and Owen, 47, are both novelists in their own right - but have a complicated literary relationship with their father.
Joe, who like his IT author father writes horror stories, uses the pen name Joe Hill to stay out of Stephen's shadow.
He even hid his identity until it was uncovered when his 2007 novel Heart-Shaped Box took the charts by storm.
'I was very insecure, and I didn't want to sell something because someone saw it as a way to make a quick buck and then have it come out and someone would say it was terrible,' he admitted in a profile with The New York Times.
Despite trying to make it on his own, Joe's career has unsurprisingly overlapped with his father's.
When he was nine, Joe starred in the film Creepshow, based on the book written by his father, and he's even collaborated with his father on a short series.
Joe even changed his name to try to stand out from his father - and tried to hide his identity
Authors Owen King and Stephen King visit the SiriusXM Studios on September 26, 2017 in New York City
Owen King (pictured) on the other hand is generally less well known in the industry and, unlike his father and brother, choses not to stay within the horror genre as he feels 'a little bit squeamish' about it
Nevertheless, having Stephen King as his father has stood him in incredibly good stead, winning awards including Bram Stoker, British Fantasy Awards and an Eisner Award - and having Locke & Key turned into a Netflix series.
Owen King on the other hand is generally less well known in the industry and, unlike his father and brother, choses not to stay within the horror genre as he feels 'a little bit squeamish' about it.
His first book We're All In This Together was published in 2005, followed by his first full-length novel, Double Feature in 2013.
He told the New York Times: 'I think my brother's and father's drive for success is greater than mine. I just want to sell enough books to be able to justify continuing to write.'
It's certainly a literary family - as Stephen's wife Tabitha is also an author
He said this is partly due to his desire for a more private life, adding: 'I want to be as successful as I can be while still living a very private life and I think my ambition is probably a little bit limited by that desire.'
In 2017, Owen collaborated with his father on thriller/fantasy novel Sleeping Beauties - a thriller/fantasy novel and, in 2020, produced CBS's The Stand, based on his father's novel.
Despite whole family, including Stephen's wife Tabitha, being in the same industry, they seem to lack a sense of rivalry with one another.
Owen, who lives in New York with his wife Kelly, told Vulture in 2013: 'It's easy to read Joe and just be a fan; I don't feel competitive.
'We've written together a little bit, and when we write together we merge pretty seamlessly, but I don't feel like our writing voices are that similar.'
SAMANTHA VAN LEER
FAMOUS PARENT: Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult helped her daughter Samantha Van Leer kickstart her career as a novelist by writing their first book together
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult helped her daughter Samantha Van Leer become a published author when she was just a teenager.
Samantha was a junior in high school when she came up with the concept for modern fairy tale Between The Lines, but co-authoring it with her mother meant it could become a reality.
Speaking on BBC's Saturday Live at the weekend, My Sister's Keeper author Jodi explained: 'It was great. When Sammy was 13 years old, she came to me with an idea for a book.
'I was like, oh my god, she's talking about a literary crush, what a great idea! So we basically worked on it together over the course of the summers, because she was a full-time student, she had a full-time job.'
Between The Lines, Jodi's first ever YA novel, tells the story of when a teenage bookworm discovers that the prince in her book is very much alive and wants to escape the shackles of the book he is in.
The main character, Delilah lives in our world but Oliver is trapped in a book.
Following the success of the first book, Jodi and Samantha wrote a sequel, Off The Page, exploring 'what if having your prince in the real world isn't everything it's cracked up to be'.
Jodi and Samantha are pictured at the opening night of Between The Lines, when it was a musical on Broadway
It was even developed as an Off-Broadway musical, which ran until 2022.
Jodi and Samantha have often referred to one another as the 'other half of my brain'.
Speaking at BookCon 2015, Jodi said: 'It was a really interesting experience because I had never really had a co-author before.
'It was sort of a learning process for me that even though she did not have the experience that I had writing, her gut instincts were so strong. I had to treat her as a co-author and not as an intern basically.'
Samantha added: 'How we actually wrote it was side by side, eight hours a day. I know! With your mother.
'Speaking the entire book out loud. My mom would type because I'm slower and she would get really angry if I couldn't keep up. We would just go back and forth.
Samantha's Instagram feed is filled with happy family photos - and she's clearly still close to her mother, who regularly features on the account
'Whether it's genetics or we have some creepy thing going on because we've spent too much time together, we have moments where we're actually tripping over each other to get a line out because we had the same idea - and we'd realise we were thinking the exact same thing. Which is pretty unique.
'We had the exact same vision, which made writing together pretty simple.'
Samantha, who is also author of The Extraterrestrial Zoo: Finding the Lost One, middle-grade series, lives with her partner Frankie and baby Stevie.
Her Instagram feed is filled with happy family photos - and she's clearly still close to her mother, who regularly features on the account.
NICK HARKAWAY
FAMOUS PARENT: John Le Carré
Nicholas Cornwell - better known by his pen name Nick Harkaway is John Le Carré's youngest son, and an author himself
Nicholas Cornwell - better known by his pen name Nick Harkaway is John Le Carré's youngest son, and an author himself.
Le Carré, real name David Cornwell, died in 2020 at the age of 89 from bronchial pneumonia, rib fractures and prostate cancer. His publisher confirmed at the time he did not have Covid-19.
Now, Nick, 52, is set to continue one of his father's most beloved series.
He told The Times his father had given him permission to 'write into this world' and that his final wish for Nick to continue his work. Nick is bringing back his father's legendary spook George Smiley in Karla's choice, published by Penguin Random House.
The new installment is set in between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Le Carré, real name David Cornwell, died in 2020 at the age of 89 from bronchial pneumonia, rib fractures and prostate cancer
Nick said in 2023 when the novel was announced: 'Smiley is woven into my life.
'Tinker Tailor was written in the two years after I was born and I grew up with the evolution of the Circus, so this is a deeply personal journey for me, and of course it's a journey which has to feel right to the le Carré audience.
'It also seems as if we need the Smiley stories back now because they ask us the questions of the moment.
'What compassion do we owe to one another as human beings, and at what point does that compassion become more important than nation, law or duty?'
The author, who had himself worked for both the MI5 and MI6, introduced Smiley in his debut Call for the Dead in 1961 and the spy reappeared in another eight of his novels.
Nick is also the author of The Gone-Away World, Gnomon and Angelmaker.
ANNE GIARDINI
FAMOUS PARENT: CAROL SHIELDS
Carol Shields' eldest daughter Anne is also a writer, and was previously a columnist at the National Post
American-Canadian novelist Carol Shields is best known for 1933 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the US Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She died from breast cancer in July 2003 aged 68.
But her eldest daughter Anne is also a writer, and was previously a columnist at the National Post.
Anne, the former chancellor of Simon Fraser University, has written two novels The Sad Truth About Happiness (2005) and Advice For Italian Boys (2009), both published by HarperCollins.
When the Sad Truth was published, it wasn't long before similarities began to be drawn between her novel and those of her mother.
Publishing a first novel if your mother is a Pulitzer prizewinning author is a brave undertaking,' wrote Lisa Allardice in The Guardian at the time.
Carol Shields arriving with entourage to opening night of Larry's Party at the Bluma Appel Theatre
She added: 'Anne Giardini is the daughter of the late Carol Shields - a fact that is modestly absent from the book's jacket. Giardini is clearly asking for her novel to be taken on its own merits.
'But the similarities of tone and subject matter, as well as several direct - and surely intentional - allusions to Shields's work, make the connection impossible to ignore.'
Mother-of-three Anne, who wrote the Sad Truth in the final years of her mother's illness, herself denied the similarities.
Speaking on CBC Radio, Anne said: 'Often in a family environment, you're not talking about craft.
'Sometimes you do, and some of the things in this book I learned from her directly. But many things I hadn't.'
REBECCA WALKER
FAMOUS PARENT: ALICE WALKER
Alice Walker (L) and Rebecca Walker speak onstage during day two of the Liberatum Mexico Festival 2018
Rebecca Walker is a trailblazer in her own right - regarded as a prominent voice within Third Wave Feminism and in 1994 named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 future leaders of America.
But though you may not think she is a literary nepo baby, Rebecca, 54, is the daughter of The Colour Purple writer Alice Walker.
When she was 15, Rebecca changed her name from her father's name Leventhal, to her mother's Walker - seemingly showing the sign of a strong relationship.
But the two have had one of the most fractured literary relationships - and have in the past gone several years without speaking to one another.
Rebecca has published To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, a memoir Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self (2000) and a novel: Ade: A Love Story, published in 2013.
Though they are since believed to have reconciled, Rebecca previously accused her mother, 80, of neglect in print.
Speaking about her own children, Rebecca told The Mail previously that she and her mother fell out due to her 'fanatical views'
Alice Walker during 'The Color Purple' Opening on Broadway at Broadway Theater in New York
Writing in 2008, she said: 'I very nearly missed out on becoming a mother - thanks to being brought up by a rabid feminist who thought motherhood was about the worst thing that could happen to a woman.
'You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.
'In fact, having a child has been the most rewarding experience of my life.
She said she hadn't seen or spoken to her mother since becoming pregnant and described theirs as a 'poisonous relationship', and accused her of neglect.
Rebecca added: 'Unlike most mothers, mine has never taken any pride in my achievements. She has always had a strange competitiveness that led her to undermine me at almost every turn.
Though you may not think she is a literary nepo baby, Rebecca, 54, is the daughter of The Colour Purple writer Alice Walker
'When I got into Yale - a huge achievement - she asked why on earth I wanted to be educated at such a male bastion.
'Whenever I published anything, she wanted to write her version - trying to eclipse mine. When I wrote my memoir, Black, White And Jewish, my mother insisted on publishing her version.
'She finds it impossible to step out of the limelight, which is extremely ironic in light of her view that all women are sisters and should support one another.'
In 2004, Rebecca gave birth to her first child Tenzin Walker with her former partner Glen.
However, the two later reconciled and appeared at literary events together, including at the Liberatum Mexico Festival 2018 in Mexico.
Meanwhile her 2022 book Women Talk Money: Breaking the Taboo featured essays from her mother.
TESSA DAHL
FAMOUS PARENT: ROALD DAHL
Tessa Dahl is the daughter of literary giant Roald (pictured together in 1968)
Tessa Dahl had one of the most difficult literary inheritances of all to manage.
As the daughter of literary giant Roald Dahl, who has been considered controversial in recent years, the legacy to fulfil was huge.
Tessa, 67, who has lived in the US since 2005, had a very complicated relationship with the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author until his death.
Her life has been scarred by tragedy, alcoholism and drug addiction - including a breakdown in 1997 - her lowest point, where she was addicted to Valium, cocaine and alcohol and ended up in a wheelchair.
Tessa was just three when in 1960 she saw her baby brother Theo's pram struck by a New York taxi, leaving him brain damaged.
Two years later, the Dahls' eldest daughter, Olivia, seven, died of measles which she'd caught from Tessa. To make things worse, Tessa then witnessed her mother suffer from three strokes, which changed her irrevocably.
'I was like a poor substitute [for Olivia], because I had measles, too, but I lived on,' Tessa told the Mail's Alison Boshoff previously. 'I think what happened was that I spent the whole of the rest of my life trying to prove to my father that I was good.
Tessa and her daughter Sophie at the Little Black Book Party in 2001
'Everything I did, I did to please him — but in our family you got attention only if you were brain damaged or dead, or terribly ill. There was no reward for being normal.'
Roald declined for her to have therapy, instead prescribing her with sedatives.
A model who was once named one of the five most beautiful women in the world, Tessa wrote for Tatler before publishing her first novel Working For Love in 1988.
She wrote her first novel because she needed a job, after being 'disappointed' in paychecks from her journalism, according to the LA Times.
But she ddidn't start seriously writing until she was 30 - after saying she would write a book for years.
'I wrote it because I said I was going to write a book and because I needed to have a career and earn a living,' she said in the same interview.
She admitted she had written Working For Love to win her father's respect, dedicated the book to him, and asked him to read it before it was published.
However, she said it would have sold even without the help of her father's name 'without question'.
She added: 'Had I sold it for a small amount, the fact that I ended up with a number of publishing houses in England and America bidding for it, I've got to believe it wasn't because my father's a famous writer.'
Tessa has also published two picture books: The Same But Different (1988) and Babies, Babies, Babies (1991).
When her father died in November 1990 at the age of 74, she called it the 'worst day of my life'.
She wrote in the Mail in 2008: 'My father could see my writing talent, and said so on television. That was what I was living for.
'My father told me he loved me for the first time the night before he died, which felt cruellest. I had yearned for him to love me for all my life and now he was being taken away.'
She said afterwards: 'I didn't realise he had been my motivation'
Tessa has four children — Sophie, Clover, Luke and Ned.
