The author Sharon Bolton, whose eighth novel The Split is out in April, saw her first book appear under the name SJ Bolton in 2008: “It was my publisher’s suggestion for two reasons: they argued that while my books would appeal to men, they wouldn’t buy thriller books written by women – interestingly in Europe they love a nasty book written by a woman and it was only in the UK and US that I was called ‘SJ’. They also said it would give me more authority.”

It’s an approach that has seen Erika James becoming EL James to give the 50 Shades trilogy much-needed gravitas; Nora Roberts writing sci-fi as JD Robb; crime writer SJ Parris hiding the identity of journalist Stephanie Merritt; and Amy Homes publishing The End Of Alice as AM Homes.

Most famously of all, Joanne Rowling was encouraged by her publisher Bloomsbury to adopt the ‘JK’ in 1997 so Harry Potter would appeal to boys as well as girls. “It was the publisher’s idea, they could have called me Enid Snodgrass,” she later joked. “I just wanted it published.”

Why are great women writers still adopting male pseudonyms?