A British romance novel set in the world of professional ice hockey has topped the charts, marking a surprising boom in literary exports that economists say is providing a rare bright spot for the UK's trade balance. The book, titled "Frozen Hearts: A Rink-Side Romance," has sold over 500,000 copies in its first month, with strong demand from the United States, Canada, and Scandinavia. Industry insiders attribute its success to a growing appetite for escapist fiction with a distinctly British flavour.
For a country grappling with stagnant wages and a cost-of-living crisis, the literary sector's performance is a welcome anomaly. "This is not just about one book," said Dr. Emily Harris, an economist at the University of Manchester. "The UK's creative industries are one of the few sectors where we have a genuine export advantage. And in a time when every penny counts, that matters for jobs and growth."
According to the Publishers Association, UK book exports rose by 8% in the last quarter, driven by romance and crime fiction. The ice hockey romance genre, once a niche interest, has exploded in popularity thanks to social media platforms like TikTok, where readers share recommendations under hashtags like #HockeyRomance.
Yet beneath the celebratory headlines, there is a deeper story about who gets to benefit. "Most of the profits from these publishing successes go to a handful of big corporations and a few star authors," said Sarah Jones, a union representative for publishing workers. "The vast majority of writers and editors are freelancers struggling to make ends meet." Average earnings for authors in the UK fell to just £7,000 last year, according to the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.
In the industrial north, where the story is set, the mood is more ambivalent. "It's nice to see something from our region on the bestseller list," said Margaret Thompson, a retired librarian from Sheffield. "But it doesn't put food on the table for most of us. Our local bookshop closed down last year."
The government has trumpeted the success as evidence of "Global Britain" thriving after Brexit. But critics argue that the export boom masks persistent inequalities in the domestic market. "We need policies that support the people who actually create this content, not just the distributors," said Harriet Walsh, a spokesperson for the Society of Authors.
As for the author of "Frozen Hearts," a former factory worker from Leeds, the sudden fame has been life-changing. "I wrote this on my kitchen table between shifts," she said in a rare interview. "I wanted to show that working-class people have stories worth telling, too."
Her story is one of personal triumph, but for the thousands of other writers plying their trade in gig economy conditions, the dream of a bestseller remains distant. The ice hockey romance might be breaking records, but for the real economy, the puck is still waiting to drop.
