In light of Kamila Shamsie having a literary prize revoked for her personal support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement, we use it as a launching pad to discuss whether authors' political beliefs affect our enjoyment of their work, and for that matter, whether it should. And then we move on to looking at how soon is too soon when it comes to writing books that capture our current political zeitgeist and maelstrom.