‘Jewel’ finds U.S. publisher

The U.S. publisher that took on O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It” after it was dropped in the face of public outrage has signed up another rejected project: Sherry Jones’ “The Jewel of Medina,” a novel about a wife of the prophet Muhammad that Random House canceled out of concern that it would anger Muslims.

“We read the book; we loved it,” said Eric Kampmann, owner of Beaufort Books, which managed a hit last year with Simpson’s hypothetical confession to murder.

Jones’ novel should come out by mid-October, Kampmann said.