'The Jewel of Medina': Publisher of Simpson Book to Handle Muhammad Novel

NEW YORK – The 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," says Eric Kampmann, owner of Beaufort Books, which managed a hit last year with the former football star's hypothetical confession to the murder of his ex-wife and her friend.

Jones' novel should come out by mid-October, Kampmann said. She will also publish a second book with Beaufort, a sequel to "Jewel of Medina."