'This is me!' Poet says literary sensation based book character on him

A London poet has accused the best-selling author Coco Mellors of basing a character on him, saying the experience has been "harmful" and led to him having a "mini identity crisis".

- Lanre Bakare

James Massiah, who created a lengthy Instagram post that points out the similarities between him and the character Charlie in Mellors' Blue Sisters novel, told the Guardian he did so after more than half a dozen people had asked him if the character was inspired by him.

The novel by Coco Mellors, who became a literary star after the success of her debut Cleopatra and Frankenstein, which sold 200,000 copies, was one of the most talked-about books of this year.

It follows three sisters and their at times turbulent relationships, which are affected by addiction and the death of a sibling.

Massiah said friends and acquaintances had independently told him that a character called Charlie bore a strong resemblance to him.

He said: "People were sending little bits of copy and details from the book, 'he lives with his parents' or little funny things like that. I went to check it out for myself and was like 'This is me!'"