Several weeks back allegations flew across the web that Stephenie Meyer, author of the world-wide book and movie phenomenon, “Twilight,” had plagiarized parts of the fourth book in the series, “Breaking Dawn.” The accusation came from little known author Jordan Scott, author of “The Nocturne” (also a vampire novel).
The allegations have turned into a full blown lawsuit, filed last week, and reports of the suit have cropped up everywhere, including an announcement in the New York Times this weekend:
“Earlier this month, a lawyer for Jordan Scott, the author of the 2006 vampire novel “The Nocturne,” sent a cease-and-desist letter to Ms. Meyer’s publisher, Hachette Book Group, that said her work contains many situations that are similar to those in Ms. Meyer’s 2008 book “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth entry in her series about a romance between a mortal woman and an undead vampire. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in California reiterated those similarities, noting, for example, that both books contained passages about a wedding and an after-wedding sex scene on a beach.”

“Breaking Dawn” is Meyer’s most controversial book in the series, but until now for reasons that have nothing at all to do with possible plagiarism–fans were passionately divided over whether or not they liked a few controversial twists (that I will not spoil here) essential to the plot in “Breaking Dawn.” I have not read “The Nocturne” nor do I plan to pick apart the two texts next to each other. But I that anyone who knows a thing or two about Mormonism would have a hard time imagining that “Breaking Dawn” was plagiarized, given the way that the book’s plot plays straight into Mormon ideas about the eternal family–through Bella and Edward’s marriage, subsequent child, and the immortality given to all three via becoming/being vampires. I’m surprised this argument–one that seems basic and obvious to me–hasn’t come up in discussions about the allegations.
What do you think? Do you trust Stephenie? And if your curious, check out my Idol Chatter post, “Am I the Only Person Who Liked ‘Breaking Dawn’?” from last August.