The Secret Barrister reveals pain at not being able to publicly celebrate success

Avatar photo

By Aishah Hussain on

Anonymous author wishes they could lap up glory in person

secret barrister
Image credit: Picador

Masked author The Secret Barrister (SB) has opened up about the pain at not being able to celebrate the success of their popular eponymous work publicly.

In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, the anonymous writer of 2018 paperback, Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, says:

“It was weird not to be able to celebrate the success of my book publicly — criminal barristers are wild egotists and my other half finds it amusing that the greatest success I’ve had is something no one will find out about.”

The mysterious blogger’s debut book, which details the plight of the criminal justice system from the perspective of SB, a junior barrister practising in criminal law, has enjoyed overwhelming success. It was a Sunday Times top-ten bestseller for 24 consecutive weeks and the subject of a high-profile crowdfunding campaign which saw a copy given to every MP. SB confirmed a second instalment will be released in spring 2020.

The 2019 Chambers Most List

On Wednesday the barrister blogger took to Twitter to reveal that he (or she) had sold over 250,000 copies. “A QUARTER OF A FREAKING MILLION people now know about the crisis in criminal justice… I love you all. Without you, I’d be just an anonymous legal Twitter troll. This is utterly crazy. Thank you thank you X,” they wrote.

For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek's careers events:

Sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub

Related Stories

secret barrister

The Secret Barrister secures second book deal

Anonymous blogging heavyweight tells Legal Cheek they won't be quitting the bar anytime soon

Oct 25 2018 11:06am

The Secret Barrister unmasked in London burger joint

They are a 30-something Comprehensive school-educated non-Oxbridge grad, it emerges during daring interview

Jun 29 2018 4:05pm

The Secret Barrister’s debut book is the perfect deterrent for any aspiring criminal lawyer

An 'irresistibly special' career but one littered with heartache; Legal Cheek reviews Stories of the Law and How It's Broken

Mar 20 2018 9:06am