If you think it’s hard enough to be a weekend novelist, try being William Nicholson for almost thirty years. Nicholson, who considered screenwriters to be “wannabe artists,” watched his debut novel migrate to the remainder bin. Never mind that he found considerable success with Shadowlands (now available in at least three forms, rivaling the late Bill Naughton’s multiple adaptations for Alfie). Nicholson now has another novel out, The Society of Others, which involves “an apathetic young British man” stumbling into an unidentified country where violence has broke out. Unfortunately, reviews of the new novel have been half-hearted so far.