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The Factory, 1 Park Hill, London SW4 9NS +44(0)20 7499 7550 www.mmla.co.uk The Factory, 1 Park Hill, London SW4 9NS +44(0)20 7499 7550 www.mmla.co.uk FRANKFURT CATALOGUE 2020 LITERARY/BOOK CLUB/UPMARKET WOMEN’S

MOONLIGHT AND THE PEARLER’S DAUGHTER…………...LIZZIE POOK……………………………..5 BLACK CAKE……………………………………………………………….CHARMAINE WILKERSON………….6 WAHALA…………………………………………………………………….NIKKI MAY…………………………….…7 THE LOST & THE LIVING……………………………………………..SOON WILEY………………………...….8 THE ENDS OF THE EARTH…………………………………………...ABBIE GREAVES……………………....9 TEACHING DELPHINE………………………………………………….BETH MORREY…………………………10 LOOKING FOR JANE…………………………………………………..HEATHER MARSHALL……………....11 THE READING LIST……………………………………………………..SARA ADAMS………………………....12 THE REVIVAL………………………………………………………………ROSEMARY HENNIGAN……………13

CRIME/THRILLER/SUSPENSE

DO NO HARM…………………………………………………………….JACK JORDAN…………………………14 THE COLOUR OF OUR LIES………………………………………….TERESA DRISCOLL……………………15 HER LAST HOLIDAY…………………………………………………….C.L. TAYLOR…………………………….16 CITY OF SPIES ……………………………………………………………..CATHERINE GLASS………………….17 THE OTHER PARENTS………………………………………………….ROBIN MORGAN-BENTLEY……..18 IT MIGHT HURT………………………………………………………….STEPHANIE WROBEL……………….19 THE PLAYERS……………………………………………………………...DARREN O’SULLIVAN……………..20

THE TEAM THE TEAM Madeleine Milburn, Director — [email protected] Madeleine Milburn, Milburn, Director Director — [email protected] Agent —[email protected] Giles Milburn, Managing Director & Agent — [email protected] Giles Milburn,Milburn, Managing Managing Director Director & Agent& Agent — [email protected]— [email protected] Liane-Louise Smith, Rights Director — [email protected] AliceHayley Sutherland Steed, Book-Hawes, to Screen Rights Agent Manager & Literary and Agent Agent— [email protected] (Children’s & YA) — [email protected] Hayley Steed, Book to Screen Agent & Literary Agent — [email protected] HayleyCatherine Steed Cho, — Agent Associate & Digital Agent Rights, Film, Manager TV &— Digital [email protected] Coordinator— [email protected] Catherine Cho, Agent & Digital Rights Manager — [email protected] NickyLiane- LouiseGordon Smith, — Rights Rights & Director Media —Assistant [email protected]— [email protected] Georgina Simmonds, Rights Agent — [email protected] Georgina Simmonds, Junior Rights Agent—[email protected] Sophie Pélissier, Rights Assistant — [email protected] The Factory, 1 Park Hill, London SW4 9NS +44(0)20 7499 7550 www.mmla.co.uk FRANKFURT CATALOGUE 2020 CRIME/THRILLER/SUSPENSE

THE CAPTIVE……………………………………………………………...DEBORAH O’CONNOR……………21 MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER…………….T.A. WILLBERG……………………….22 UNDER LYING……………………………………………………………..JANELLE HARRIS…………………….23 ONE MISTAKE……………………………………………………………..RONA HALSALL……………………..24 THE MISSING……………………………………………………………..DAISY PEARCE………………………..25 THE KILLING CHOICE…………………………………………………..WILL SHINDLER………………………26

HISTORICAL

SKIN WHISTLE……………………………………………………………REBECCA KELLY…………..…………27 CIRCUS OF WONDERS…..……………………………...…………..ELIZABETH MACNEAL…………...28 THE JEWEL OF NEW YORK………………………………………….ELLA CAREY…………………………..29 CITY OF GHOSTS………………………………………………………..BEN CREED……………………….…...30 THE SKYLARK’S SECRET……………………………………………...FIONA VALPY………………………..31 THE OPHELIA SISTERS………………………………………………..JANE HEALEY………………….……..32 THE LONG, LONG AFTERNOON…………………………………...INGA VESPER………………….…...33 THE REBEL DAUGHTER.……………………………………………..MIRANDA MALINS………….…....34

THE TEAM THE TEAM THE TEAM Madeleine Milburn, Director —[email protected] [email protected] Madeleine Milburn, Director —[email protected] Giles Milburn, Managing Director & Agent — [email protected] MadeleineGiles Milburn, Milburn, Managing Director Director & Agent& Agent — —[email protected] [email protected] HayleyLiane-Louise Steed, Smith, Book toRights Screen Director Agent — & [email protected] Agent— [email protected] GilesHayley Milburn, Steed, Book Managing to Screen Director Agent & LiteraryAgent — Agent [email protected]— [email protected] CatherineHayley Steed, Cho, Book Agent to & Screen Digital Agent Rights & Manager Literary Agent— [email protected] — [email protected] AnnaAliceCatherine SutherlandHogarty, Cho, Agent Agent-Hawes, & and Digital RightsEditor Rights Manager— [email protected] and— [email protected] (Children’s & YA) — [email protected] LianeCatherine-Louise Cho, Smith, Agent Rights & Digital Director Rights— [email protected] — [email protected] AliceHayleyLiane -SutherlandLouise Steed, Smith, Associate-Hawes, Rights AgentDirector Rights, Film,Manager— liane TV- [email protected]& and Digital Agent Coordinator (Children—’s &hay YA)[email protected] — [email protected] Georgina Simmonds, JuniorRights RightsAgent —Agent [email protected]—[email protected] HayleyNickyGeorgina Gordon, Steed Simmonds, — Rights Associate Junior & Media RightsAgent Assistant Agent, Film,— TV—[email protected] & [email protected] Digital Coordinator— [email protected] Sophie Pélissier, Rights Assistant ——[email protected] [email protected] The Factory, 1 Park Hill, London SW4 9NS +44(0)20 7499 7550 www.mmla.co.uk FRANKFURT CATALOGUE 2020 COMMERCIAL WOMEN’S

A THING CALLED LOVE……………………………………………….NELL CARTER………………………...35 THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN…………………………………………...SOPHIE ANDERSON……………….36 HIDDEN TREASURES…………………………………………………..MICHELLE ADAMS………………….37 THE WIFE WHO GOT A LIFE………………………………………..TRACY BLOOM……………………….38 THE LOVE WE LEFT BEHIND………………………………………..KATHERINE SLEE…………………….39 THE THINGS THAT MATTER………………………………………..ANDREA MICHAEL……………...... 40 PERFECT TIMING………………………………………………………..OWEN NICHOLLS……………….....41 THE SISTER SURPRISE………………………………………………...ABIGAIL MANN……………………..42 THE REINVENTION OF IVY EDWARDS……………………..….HANNAH TOVEY…………………....43

NON-FICTION

WINTERING………………………………………………………………..KATHERINE MAY…………………...45 IN BLACK & WHITE……………………………………………………..ALEXANDRA WILSON………..…..46 END STATE………………………………………………………………….JAMES PLUNKETT………………....47 SCREEN TIME………………………………………………………………BECCA CADDY……………………....48 THE MOTHERHOOD COMPLEX…………………………………...MELISSA HOGENBOOM……...... 49 THE JOY OF BEING SELFISH………………………………………...MICHELLE ELMAN……………..…..50

Lizzie Pook MOONLIGHT & THE PEARLER’S DAUGHTER Upmarket Historical Fiction Agent: Madeleine Milburn Historical debut set in late 19th century Western Australia against a backdrop of dangerous pearl-diving, crocodiles and storms, it tells a story of 20-year-old Eliza Brightwell, who sets off to uncover the truth about her eccentric father after he goes missing under suspicious circumstances.

Western Australia, 1886. Under a steam- Rights Sold slicked sky and after months at sea, a slow boat makes its passage to the shores MOONLIGHT & THE PEARLER’S of Bannin Bay, and Eliza Brightwell and her DAUGHTER (TBA) family eye their strange new home. Here is

an unforgiving land where fortune sits UK & Commonwealth: under offer patiently at the bottom of the ocean. A land US: on submission where pearl shells bloom to the size of soup plates. Where men are coaxed into unthinkable places by shining nacre of champagne, silver and cream.

Ten years later, when Eliza’s eccentric and entrepreneurial father goes missing under suspicious circumstances, whispers from the townsfolk point to mutiny or murder. But when dead-ends are met and all hope seems lost, it falls to prickly but headstrong Eliza to discover who, or what, is responsible.

As she searches for the truth, delving beneath the glamorous veneer of south sea pearls, Eliza discovers that, underneath it all, lies a town of stinking decay. The sun-scorched streets of Bannin Bay, a place she once thought she knew so well, are teeming with corruption. How far is Eliza willing to push herself in order to solve the mystery and save the ones she loves? What family secrets from her past will haunt her along the way?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Appealing to fans of Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, M.L. Steadman’s The Light Between Oceans, and Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing

• Award-winning journalist Lizzie Pook has received or been shortlisted for over 10 journalism awards, including Writer of the Year at the PPA awards, New Consumer Journalist of the Year at the PTC awards, and Best Print Writer at the BSME awards

• Her debut is inspired by the real life Broadhurst family, after Pook visited their exhibition in Perth’s Shipwreck Museum

THE AUTHOR

As a travel writer and journalist, Lizzie has ventured to some of the farthest flung parts of the planet, from the trans-Himalayas to the vast, uninhabited east coast of Greenland. She has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, the Evening Standard and Stylist. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Magazine Journalism. She lives in London. 5

Charmaine Wilkerson BLACK CAKE Agent: Madeleine Milburn Upmarket Women’s Spanning several decades across the Caribbean, the UK and United States; an estranged brother and sister must set aside their differences to deal with and absolve their mother’s hidden past, honouring her eccentric, final request to share her traditional Caribbean cake, but only when the time is right. In the 1960s, a runaway bride disappears Rights Sold into the surf off the coast of a Caribbean island and is feared drowned. BLACK CAKE (Spring 2022) Five decades later, Eleanor Bennett dies, leaving her two estranged children a North American: Ballantine/PRH (Hilary Teeman) handwritten note about a small cake and a UK & Commonwealth: Michael voice recording about a headstrong girl Joseph/PRH (Jessica Leeke) named Covey. She shares a tumultuous story that includes an unsolved murder, a long- lost child, and a visceral connection with the sea that has helped to shape her own identity.

Eleanor also leaves an unusual request, asking her children to sit down and share the black cake which she has left for them in the freezer… But only when the time is right.

What the siblings learn challenges everything they thought they knew about their mother, but could ultimately help them navigate their own struggles in contemporary America. Or leave them feeling more lost than ever...

HIGHLIGHTS

• North American rights closed with Ballantine in a major seven-figure deal after a nine-way auction, and UK & Commonwealth rights snapped up by Michael Joseph in a major six-figure deal • Both publishers planning for a super-lead debut launch in 2022, to appeal of readers of Little Fires Everywhere, Water For Elephants and The Vanishing Half “A rich tapestry of dispersion, bravery, what people will do to protect themselves and what they’ll sacrifice for the people they love...Wow. The world of the Carribbean, the food of the diaspora, and draw of the ocean...all so beautifully rendered.” Hilary Teeman, Ballantine

THE AUTHOR

Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in the Caribbean and is based in Italy . She is a former journalist and has won awards for her short fiction, including the Bath Flash Fiction Award for the indie-published novella How to Make a Window Snake. Black Cake is her first novel.

Nikki May WAHALA Agent: Catherine Cho Upmarket Commercial A novel about the power of friendship, about vengeance, and the stories we inherit, and the subject of a nine-way auction in the UK.

Simi, Ronke and Boo are thirty-something Rights Sold Anglo-Nigerian friends living in London. They’re successfully navigating a world that WAHALA mixes roast dinners with jollof rice and (Spring 2022)

managing to fit in without losing North American: Custom House/ themselves. But their lives are blown apart HarperCollins US (Katherine when the sins of their fathers come back to Nintzel) haunt them. UK & Commonwealth: Doubleday/ PRH (Jane Lawson) Ronke wants happily every after and 2.2. Serbian: Vulkan kids. She’s dating Kayode and wants him to be ‘the one’ (perfect, like her dead father). Boo has everything Ronke wants – a kind husband, gorgeous child. But she’s plagued by guilt and a feeling that she doesn’t belong. Simi is the golden one but no one knows she’s crippled by imposter syndrome and desperate for her father’s approval.

When the glamorous, high-flying Isobel explodes into the group, they think she brings out the best in them. None of them realise how much their lives will change in just a few months. What begins as minor cracks in their friendship lead to moral dilemmas, and white lies turn to betrayal.

HIGHLIGHTS

• UK & Commonwealth rights won by Doubleday after a nine-way auction in a strong six-figure deal, and North American rights went Katherine Nintzel at Custom House in a seven figure deal “Nikki is so good with character and so smart about women - she gets exactly right the balance in a friendship group between the relationships keeping the women together and the relationships that pull them away.” Katherine Nintzel, Custom House “Wahala is a fabulous friendship novel in every way. But [Nikki May gives] us more...exploring the theme of vengeance and family legacy, that reap destruction like a Greek tragedy.” Jane Lawson, Doubleday

THE AUTHOR

Born in Bristol but raised in Lagos, Nigerian-British Nikki May wishes everyone was lucky enough to have two homes and two cultures. After dropping out of medical school, Nikki fell into advertising, going on to run a successful ad agency before turning to writing. Nikki lives in Dorset with her husband, two standard schnauzers, and a lot of books. 7

Soon Wiley THE LOST & THE LIVING Agent: Catherine Cho Upmarket Commercial Set in Seoul, The Lost and the Living is an evocative story about longing, loneliness, and the search for one's place in the world. Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Sally Rooney.

Min-jun Ford, a biracial Korean expat from Rights Sold the US, finds Seoul a refuge, a city that offers a home to his cultural identity. THE LOST & THE LIVING (Spring 2022)

He excels at his job at a tech firm, he plays North American: Dutton/PRH rugby on the weekends and goes on dates (Lindsey Rose) with his girlfriend, Yu-Jin, a local university UK & Commonwealth: Simon & student. Shuster (Bethan Jones) Russian: AST Min's world is turned on its head when Yu- Jin commits suicide. Min is blindsided and throws himself into unravelling the mystery surrounding her death.

Losing Yu-Jin makes Seoul a strange and unfamiliar city, and as details of Yu-Jin’s double-life come to light, Min begins to doubt the authenticity of their relationship and his own sense of belonging.

HIGHLIGHTS

• North American rights snapped up at auction by Dutton/PRH in a major six-figure deal • Soon Wiley’s fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and earned him fellowships at Brush Creek Residency for the Arts in Wyoming and CAMAC – Centre d’art in France “Soon is a natural storyteller, and the life and vibrancy he brings to his setting and characters is really quite extraordinary. He perfectly brings to life the conflict when your sense of self buts heads with societal and family expectations, in order to keep us all in our ‘place’.” Bethan Jones, Simon & Shuster

THE AUTHOR

A native of Nyack, New York, Soon Wiley received his BA in English & Philosophy from Connecticut College. He holds an MFA from Wichita State University and is currently pursuing an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University. He currently teaches English at Sidwell Friends in Washington, DC, where he resides with his wife and their two cats.

Abbie Greaves THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Agent: Madeleine Milburn Book Club A stunning high-concept love story from the author of The Silent Treatment, that asks what it truly means to go to the ends of the earth for those we love.

Mary O’Connor has been keeping a vigil for Rights Sold her first love for the past seven years. TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Every evening without fail, Mary sets herself (Spring 2021) up among the commuters at Ealing Broadway Station with a sign simply saying: ’Come UK & Commonwealth: Century/ Home Jim.’ PRH (Emily Griffin) US: William Morrow/HarperCollins (Emily Krump) And she isn’t going anywhere. Canadian: HarperCollins German: S. Fischer That is, until an unexpected call turns her Hebrew: Tchelet world and its routine on its head. Hungarian: Alexandra Italian: Garzanti In spite of all her efforts, mary can no longer Lithuanian: Baltos Lankos Portuguese (EU): Planeta find the strength to hold herself together and Russian: Eksmo must let others help her. Serbian: Vulkan Slovak: Fortuna Only by doing so can she finally face what happened all those years ago, and answer the question—where on earth is Jim? OPTION PUBLISHERS: Czech: Metafora Norwegian: Kagge Polish: Muza Spanish: Planeta HIGHLIGHTS THE SILENT TREATMENT • The Silent Treatment spent 3 weeks in the top 10 overall fiction (April 2020) charts in Poland, reaching No.14 in the Empik top 100 Bestseller chart

• Abbie has appeared on BBC Radio 2, BBC 4 and Scala Radio Book Club, with featured reviews in New York Journal of Books, Sunday Express and Daily Mail Praise for The Silent Treatment: “A remarkable debut.” Jojo Moyes, No. 1 bestselling author of Me Before You

THE AUTHOR

Abbie Greaves studied at Cambridge University before working in a literary agency in London for a number of years. Her first novel, The Silent Treatment, was published in 2020 to huge acclaim. The Ends of the Earth is her eagerly awaited follow-up novel. Abbie lives in Brighton with her boyfriend. 9

Beth Morrey

TEACHING DELPHINE Agent: Madeleine Milburn

Book club A tale of thwarted ambition, and the triumph of the underdog, and the second novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Saving Missy.

Once upon a time, Delphine Jones had big Rights Sold dreams. Clever, beautiful and ambitious, she was going to get an education, travel TEACHING DELPHINE the world, make her mark. But somewhere (Autumn 2021) along the line, it all went wrong... North American: Putnam/PRH (Tara Singh-Carlson) Now Delphine is a struggling single mum, UK & Commonwealth: serving coffee for a living, fishing coins out HarperFiction/HarperCollins the back of the sofa to make ends meet. All (Martha Ashby) she wants is a safe place for her and her Czech: Euromedia daughter Em, but in a dead-end job, with a German: Droemer Knaur reclusive father and controlling boyfriend, it Hungarian: Publish & More feels like her life has ground to a halt. Italian: Garzanti Lithuanian: Baltos Lankos Nothing she does makes a difference. Norwegian: Bazar Portuguese (SA): Intrinseca Enter bossy teacher Roz, waspish old lady Letty, and gruff musician Dylan, Romanian: Grup Media Litera who show Delphine that it’s not too late to turn her life around. Her world Swedish: Lind & Co starts to open up, offering new opportunities, adventures - even love - if only she can put the past behind her. OPTION PUBLISHERS: Dutch: Ambo Anthos Can Delphine Jones teach herself to dream again? Finnish: Bazar Kustannus Oy Polish: Zysk HIGHLIGHTS Russian: Sinbad Serbian: Laguna Spanish: Duomo • Saving Missy went straight in at No. 6 on the Sunday Times Bestseller list, and Beth was featured in The Observer‘s ‘Best Debut SAVING MISSY Novelists of 2020’ and one of The Media Eye’s ‘Rising Stars’ (January 2020) • For fans of Emma Healey, Rachel Joyce, and our very own Gail Honeyman “Bittersweet, tender, thoughtful and uplifting, Missy is a story and a character that stays with you. I loved it.” Nina Stibbe, author of Reasons to be Cheerful “The most beautiful and the most moving book I’ve read in a long time. It will comfort you and it will break your heart.” Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

THE AUTHOR

Beth Morrey was inspired to write her debut novel, Saving Missy, while pushing a pram around her local park during maternity leave. Getting to know the community of dog owners, joggers, neighbours and families, she began to sow the seeds of a novel about a woman saved by the people around her, strangers who became friends.

Heather Marshall LOOKING FOR JANE Agent: Hayley Steed Book club A book club novel for fans of Jodi Picoult and The Alice Network, based on the true story of the Jane Collective: an underground abortion service that operated in the early 1970s prior to the legalization of abortion.

In 1970s Toronto, a group of daring women Rights Sold operates an illegal underground abortion network known only by its code name: LOOKING FOR JANE Jane. (Spring 2022)

Canada: Simon & Schuster (Sarah As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was forced St Pierre) to give her baby up for adoption—a trauma UK & Commonwealth: Hodder & she has never recovered from. Despite Stoughton/Hachette (Sara Adams) harrowing police raids and the constant Dutch: De Fontein threat of arrest, Evelyn joins the Jane Portuguese (SA): Companhia das Network as an abortion provider, Letras determined to give other women a choice she never had.

After discovering a shocking secret about her family history, twenty year old Nancy Mitchell finds herself pregnant. Grappling with her decision, she locates ‘Jane’ to terminate her pregnancy, then covertly joins the network’s ranks as the lies begin to pile up around her. Decades later, Angela Creighton finds a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession. While searching for the letter’s intended recipient, she crosses paths with Evelyn, who realizes Angela may hold the key to providing her the closure she desperately needs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Canadian rights went to S&S Canada in a six-figure, two-book deal, to be positioned as a lead title on their list • Sara Adams at Hodder & Stoughton snapped up UK & Commonwealth rights after a close and competitive auction “Looking for Jane does what the very best historical fiction does. It uncovers a little-known chapter of our history and brings it to life in rich, vivid detail, spinning a compelling story that closes the gap between the present and the past.” Sarah St. Pierre, S&S

THE AUTHOR

Heather Marshall was born and raised near Toronto, Ontario, where she still lives with her family and their giant golden retriever. After receiving an honours degree in history and political science, Heather completed Master’s degrees in Canadian history and political science. Her thesis papers for those degrees focused on the treatment of birth control in Canadian print media in the 1960s and the evolution of child care policy in Ontario, respectively.

Sara Adams THE READING LIST Agent: Hayley Steed Book club A powerful story of friendship in the face of loneliness, resilience in the face of vulnerability, and the power of books and what it means to find family in the most unexpected of places.

Mukesh lives a quiet life after the loss of his Rights Sold wife. He shops every Wednesday and cares THE READING LIST for his granddaughter, Priya, who reads (July 2021) whilst he watches TV. UK & Commonwealth: HarperFiction/HarperCollins Aleisha is working at her local library whilst (Charlotte Brabbin) her friends send her photos from their US: William Morrow (Rachel holidays. She needs to support her mother, Kahan) who rarely leaves the house. Arabic: Arab Scientific Publishers Italian: Garzanti Russian: AST When clearing out the library, Aleisha finds Spain: Duomo some paper in the back of a novel. Realising it’s a reading list, she tucks it into her phone case and forgets it.

Mukesh is desperate to bond with Priya, so he decides to visit Harrow Road library to find books to read with her. Aleisha, frustrated to be working, turns him away. Her boss warns her to do her job, or lose it, which she can’t afford. Then she remembers the list - could a stranger’s scribblings save Aleisha’s job? Could it save Mukesh’s relationship with Priya?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Perfect for fans of The Lido by Libby Page and The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley • An uplifting, heart-warming book club novel • US pre-empt by William Morrow and US & Commonwealth rights were sold to HarperFiction at auction • Overnight pre-empt in Italy one day after submission

THE AUTHOR

Sara Nisha Adams is a 26-year-old writer and Commissioning Editor at Vintage/PRH. She was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents, and spent much of her childhood in Wembley, where her grandparents live. Her debut novel The Reading List is partly inspired by her grandfather, who immediately found a connection with his granddaughter through books. Sara now lives in north London with her partner and her cat.

Rosemary Hennigan THE REVIVAL Agent: Hayley Steed Book club A cast of young actors fall in to obsession, jealousy and paranoia as they rehearse a play based on true-life events.

Dara Gaffney is fresh out of drama school Rights Sold when she lands the leading role in the ten- year revival of Eabha de Lacey's hugely THE REVIVAL successful first play, The Wild Goat. (TBA) Controversy has surrounded the play since UK & Commonwealth: on it was first performed– it's based on the submission true story of the death of Cillian Butler, which remains a mystery.

When she was at school, Eabha witnessed the death of Cillian following a scuffle with her brother, Austin. Both Eabha and Austin said he fell out of the window, but there was also evidence that he might have jumped deliberately. Worse still are the rumours that Cillian was pushed, either by Austin, Eabha or both – his family are convinced the play is a bold cover-up for their crime.

As the media storm builds and opening night draws closer, the cast find it harder and harder to separate themselves from their characters, the pressures of the play and the intoxicating effect of Eabha's influence. The truth of Cillian’s demise becomes clearer, and Dara’s loyalty to her role will be irrevocably questioned as history starts to repeat itself…

HIGHLIGHTS

• Author was a contemporary of Sally Rooney at Trinity College Dublin • She is a Fullbright Scholar and previous winner of the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court • Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and longlisted for the Colm Toibin Short Story Competition

THE AUTHOR

Rosemary Hennigan studied Law at Trinity College Dublin, and practiced as a solicitor for a number of years before completing a Masters in Law at the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked in advocacy for a number of human rights focused NGOs. Rosemary lives by the Grand Canal in Dublin with her husband and a lot of books.

Jack Jordan DO NO HARM Agent: Madeleine Milburn Thriller A high-octane medical crime thriller about a renowned heart surgeon who’s given an ultimatum: kill a patient on the operating table or never see her son again.

Renowned heart surgeon Dr Anna Jones, Rights Sold soon to be divorced and attempting to -co parent with her estranged husband, arrives DO NO HARM home after a long day of surgery to find (TBA) three strangers sat in her living room. Her son, Zack, and childminder, Paula, are UK & Commonwealth: on submission nowhere to be found.

“Paula is dead. We have your son. If you want him back alive, you must kill Ahmed Shabir on the operating table in two days’ time. If you tell anyone of this, your son will die. If you are discovered, your son will die. If you fail, your son will die.”

To save her child, Anna must sacrifice everything she believes in and take a life without detection: that of famed politician Ahmed Shabir. But in doing so, she sets off a string of events that puts both her and Zack in jeopardy.

One of the rules for getting her son back was killing the patient without suspicion, but with the police circling, a formal investigation being brought against her by the hospital, and those closest to her questioning Zack’s whereabouts, Anna must lie and scheme to get away with murder… Or she will never see her son again.

HIGHLIGHTS

• For fans of rip-roaring thrillers like Adrian McKinty’s The Chain, and dark, palpable fiction like Louise Candlish’s Our House, and domestic noir like Shari Lapena • In 2015 Jack self-published his debut novel, Anything for Her, followed by a second novel, My Girl, in 2016, which became an Amazon No.1 bestseller in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Within six months of My Girl’s publication, the two titles had sold a combined total of over 100,000 copies.

THE AUTHOR

Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), and Before Her Eyes (2018).

Teresa Driscoll THE COLOUR OF OUR LIES Agent: Madeleine Milburn Suspense A young girl lies in a coma after being shot down at her graduation ceremony. In trying to identify the suspect, Private Investigator Matthew becomes increasingly drawn into a web of lies, secrecy and obsession. The next gripping thriller from a worldwide bestselling author.

Gemma Hartley’s graduation day is meant Rights Sold to be the best day of her mother’s life. Instead, she watches her daughter get shot THE COLOUR OF OUR LIES down as she walks onstage. (Spring 2021)

The police inquiry now faces tough World English: Thomas & Mercer/ Amazon Publishing (Jack Butler) questions. Is this terrorism or personal? And should other graduations be cancelled? As OPTION PUBLISHERS: Gemma lies in a coma in hospital, Private Chinese (Complex): Spring Investigator Matthew Hill is at the centre of International endless lies. That Gemma was in a secret Chinese (Simplified):Modern relationship with one of her professors, and Press that she is pregnant. That both her and her Croatian:Mozaik Knjiga Czech: Euromedia mother had been receiving strange Estonian: Pegasus messages….he’s not who he says he is. That French: City Editions Ed, Gemma’s father, has an ex-wife with a Greek: Dioptra rare mental-health disorder and has recently checked herself out of her care Hebrew: Adel Publishing facility. To make matters worse, Gemma’s furious, controlling ex-boyfriend is Iranian: Koolehposhti publicly demanding to claim paternity of Gemma’s unborn baby, and the Italian: Newton Compton university is under pressure to reinstate the third and final graduation Korea: KEDBP Lithuanian: Balto UAB ceremony of the year. Macedonian: Kultura Polish: Wydawnictwo SQN Can Matthew let the ceremony go ahead and risk another shooting with the Portuguese (EU): Presenca killer still on the loose? Romanian: Herg Benet Russian: Exmo HIGHLIGHTS Slovak: Don Bosco Spanish: Principal de los Libros • 1.5 million copies sold across all titles, with sales of more than Swedish: Printz Publishing 30,000 in March Turkish: Kanes Yayinlari

• I Am Watching You hit the Bookseller’s heatseeker’s chart and has I WILL MAKE YOU PAY sold 1 million copies across all formats worldwide. On publication it (October 2019) hit Kindle No.1 in the UK, USA and Australia, selling more than half a million copies in its first year THE PROMISE (February 2019) • Teresa Driscoll was shortlisted for two Dead Good awards, for I Am Watching You and The Friend THE FRIEND (March 2018)

THE AUTHOR I AM WATCHING YOU (October 2017) For more than twenty-five years as a journalist – including fifteen years as a BBC TV news presenter – Teresa Driscoll followed stories into the darker shadows of life. Covering crime for so long, she watched and was deeply moved by all the ripples – the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples which she explores now in her darker fiction. 15

C.L. Taylor HER LAST HOLIDAY Agent: Madeleine Milburn Thriller From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Sleep; a woman goes undercover to a self-recovery retreat in Wales, hoping to find out the truth of her sister’s disappearance on a previous retreat two years ago.

When Tom Wade, social media pin-up and Rights Sold therapist-guru, is released from prison, his loyal, ambitious wife Kate is there to make HER LAST HOLIDAY sure his lucrative career managing self- (TBA)

recovery retreats is not lost, and that the UK & Commonwealth: Avon/ headlines surrounding the deaths of two HarperCollins (Phoebe Morgan) previous retreat attendees are forgotten. Canada: PRH Canada (Nicole The new and improved SoulShrink retreat Winstanley) in Wales will heal the past. OPTION PUBLISHERS: When Fran and her grieving mother see the Czech: Domino Danish: Jentas newly advertised retreat after Tom’s release, French: Marabout Hachette it’s a chance to find out the truth. The truth Hebrew: Dani Books about the suspicious disappearance of a Hindi/ Malayalam/Tamil: third guest at the retreat that fateful year, Kottayam Pushpanath Publications Fran’s sister Jenna. With no body ever discovered, nobody knows what Icelandic: Drapa Forlag happened to her that summer. Nobody that is, apart from Tom Wade. Latvian: Kontinents Lithuanian: Jotema Polish: Albatros When Fran arrives incognito at the retreat, what she didn’t bargain on is Portuguese (SA): Bertrand how closely Kate seems to be watching her, and how strange the other Russian: AST guests’ behaviour is… Spanish: Duomo Swedish: Jentas A tense, fast-paced thriller that builds to a crashing conclusion, about deciding who to trust, and discovering if anyone is truly who they say they STRANGERS are… (April 2020)

HIGHLIGHTS SLEEP (March 2019)

• A top 10 Sunday Times bestseller for Strangers and Sleep. Sleep shot THE FEAR straight to No.5 on the hardback bestseller chart (March 2018) • Film & TV rights in Sleep optioned by Bill Kenwright Films THE ESCAPE • Combined UK sales of over one million copies; Strangers has sold (April 2017)

8,000 hardback copies and over 72,000 Ebook copies THE MISSING • Author of five Sunday Times bestsellers and winner of two Bestseller (April 2016)

awards in fiction THE ACCIDENT • For fans of Sarah Pinborough, Shari Lapena, Ruth Ware and J.P. (April 2015) Delaney

THE AUTHOR

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages and optioned for television. Her 2019 novel Sleep was a Richard & Judy pick. She lives in Bristol with her partner and son. 16

Catherine Glass CITY OF SPIES Agent: Madeleine Milburn Thriller A young MI5 operative has twelve hours to get a Russian spy’s son to safety. Speed meets Killing Eve in this high- octane thriller.

Young, MI5 spy Emma Makepeace is Rights Sold assigned to bring the reluctant adult son of Russian spies into protective custody CITY OF SPIES before assassins sent by Russia get to him. (TBA)

UK & Commonwealth: on With London’s famous Ring of Steel hacked submission by the Russian government, the two must cross the city without being seen by the thousands of CCTV cameras that document everything on the streets.

This means they cannot use bus, tube, car, or train. Travelling on foot, and operating without phones or bank cards that could reveal their location, they have 12 hours to make it to safety.

It will take all of Emma’s skills of disguise and subterfuge.

One wrong move will get them both killed.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Author of the Young Adult series Night School , which sold half a million copies worldwide, was the third bestselling YA book in the UK, and the No. 1 YA bestseller in France, Poland, Israel and Germany. It was translated into 22 languages • Her first adult novel was The Echo Killing, published in 2018 by HarperCollins and St. Martin’s Press, and followed by A Beautiful Corpse and Revolver Road in a continuation of the Harper McClain crime series Praise for The Echo Killing: “Won me over utterly.” Ruther Ware, author

THE AUTHOR

Catherine Glass is the pseudonym of Christi Daugherty, who began covering murders at a newspaper reporter at the age of 22. She worked as a journalist for years in cities including Savannah, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, before turning her hand to writing fiction.

Robin Morgan-Bentley THE OTHER PARENTS Agent: Madeleine Milburn Thriller The second novel from a CWA Dagger Award shortlisted author, about a young couple who harbour a terrifying secret about the fate of their son.

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby. With a few weeks to go, they head off Rights Sold for a weekend break in a remote area of THE OTHER PARENTS Cumbria, in the North of England. (Spring 2021)

UK & Commonwealth: Trapeze/ They check into Garrigill Inn, a small, Hachette (Sam Eades) quirky guesthouse in the depths Audio: Audible Original of the countryside. When they arrive, they are greeted by the owners, Barry and Fiona, OPTION PUBLISHERS: an older couple who invite them in, cook Lithuanian: UAB Balto them dinner, share their excitement about Spanish: Debolsillo

their growing family, and show them to their THE WRECKAGE room before retreating to bed. (February 2020)

The next morning, Jamie and Victoria wake up, and come downstairs to find the guesthouse deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked. Both their mobile phones and their car keys have disappeared. Even though it’s a few weeks early, Victoria knows the contractions are starting. And there’s no way out.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Wreckage was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award for best debut crime novel, and was no.1 bestselling psychological thriller on Audible UK, read by award-winning UK actress Emilia Fox

“A terrific debut.” Fiona Barton

“A thrilling, creepy climax and a double-whammy twist. A more than promising debut.” The Times

“Splendidly creepy.” The Daily Mail

“A twist I never saw coming, and a male main character with insecurity and vulnerability - I’ve never met anyone like him in a thriller before.” Rosamund Lupton, author of Three Hours

THE AUTHOR

After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in Modern and Medieval Languages, Robin Morgan-Bentley worked for Google. Since 2014, he has worked at Audible, and now manages an editorial team responsible for deciding which audiobooks to promote to customers and how. He runs a podcast called Audible Sessions, where he meets many of the authors who inspired him to write. 18

Stephanie Wrobel IT MIGHT HURT Agent: Madeleine Milburn Suspense The second novel from the bestselling author of The Recovery of Rose Gold, for fans of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell and Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects.

Kit Collins is a ticking time bomb. She slogs Rights Sold through daily life, from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the IT MIGHT HURT shower over her mother. There has to be (Spring 2022) something more than this, she tells her sister, Natalie. UK & Commonwealth: Michael Joseph/PRH (Maxine Hitchcock) Kit hopes to find what she’s looking for at US: Berkley/PRH (Amanda Bergeron) Wisewood; a self-improvement program on Canadian: Simon & Schuster (Nita a private island off the coast of Maine. Pronovost) Guests must commit to six-month stays, Dutch: Prometheus with no contact with the rest of the world. French: Pygmalion But the rules are for good reason: only by German: Ullstein achieving true fearlessness can they Portuguese (EU): Planeta Portuguese (SA): Verus become their Maximized Selves. Serbian: Vulkan

Natalie thinks Wisewood sounds like a cult and when Kit joins, there’s no OPTION PUBLISHERS: word from or about her younger sister for half a year. Chinese (Complex): Faces Chinese (Simplified):People ’s Until the day she receives an urgent email from an anonymous, terrified Oriental sender, claiming that Kit needs her. Natalie vows to find out who’s running Croatian: Znanje the secretive organization—and, more importantly, what has happened to Czech: Host Hebrew: Aryeh Nir her sister. But when she finds her, she has her own secret to confess. Hungarian: Alexandra Korean: Rok Media HIGHLIGHTS Lithuanian: UAB Balto Polish: Otwarte • The Recovery of Rose Gold (Darling Rose Gold) was a Canadian Russian: Clever bestseller, reaching No.10 on the hardback fiction chart. It was Whoopi Goldberg’s Choice of Book to Binge While Social Distancing, THE RECOVERY OF ROSE GOLD/ DARLING ROSE GOLD and was included in the Top 10 of Publisher’s Weekly Spring 2020 (March 2020) Announcements: Mysteries & Thrillers Praise for The Recovery of Rose Gold: “Sensationally good - two complex characters power the story like a nuclear reaction, and won’t let you forget them.” Lee Child “Takes twisted mum and daughter relationships to a whole new level. Think Misery meets Sharp Objects.” C.J. Tudor

THE AUTHOR

Stephanie Wrobel was born and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the United States. A voracious reader as a child and a later fascination with language led to work as a copywriter and, after a move to the UK in 2014, she set to work writing The Recovery of Rose Gold. She now lives in London where she writes full-time. 19

Darren O’Sullivan THE PLAYERS Agent: Hayley Steed Thriller A gripping, must-read thriller from a number one ebook bestseller, for fans of The Chain and The Hold Out and readers of Steve Cavanagh and John Marrs.

A stranger has you cornered. Rights Sold

They call themselves The Host. THE PLAYERS (January 2021)

You are forced to play their game. World English: HQ/HarperCollins (Katie Seaman) In it one person can live and the other must die. DARK CORNERS (April 2020) You are the next player. CLOSER THAN YOU THINK (March 2019) You have a choice to make. CLOSE YOUR EYES This is a game where nobody wins… (May 2018)

OUR LITTLE SECTRET (July 2017)

HIGHLIGHTS

• A Faber Academy graduate and the author of four previous thrillers: Dark Corners, Our Little Secret, Close Your Eyes and Closer Than You Think • Sales of over 150,000 copies across all Darren’s titles, with sales of Dark Corners reaching 12,000 copies across all formats • Bestseller in the UK, US, Canada and Australia

“A clever concept thriller that leaves you breathless, Darren O’Sullivan’s best work yet.” John Marrs, author

THE AUTHOR

Darren O’Sullivan is the author of the No.1 bestsellers Our Little Secret, Close Your Eyes and Closer Than You Think. He lives in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, where his days are spent either behind his laptop writing, in front of a group of actors directing theatre, or rolling around pretending to be a dinosaur with his young son.

Deborah O’Connor THE CAPTIVE Agent: Madeleine Milburn Suspense A high concept thriller which brings together the dystopian and the domestic in a story where the UK’s prisons have been replaced by a new form of restorative justice within the victim’s home.

Present day. Expensive, ineffective and overcrowded, all 150 of the UK’s prisons Rights Sold have now been closed and replaced by a THE CAPTIVE new form of restorative justice that (January 2021) promises to lower recidivism, increase rehabilitation and put law and order back in UK & Commonwealth: Bonnier the hands of the people. If someone is found (Sophie Orme) guilty of a crime, they serve their time in a prison cell that has been constructed inside THE DANGEROUS KIND the home of their victim or the victim’s (April 2019) family. MY HUSBAND’S SON (June 2016) When John Cavey is stabbed to death, Jem

Dahlin is convicted and sentenced to twenty years in a prison cell in the home of John’s widow, Hannah. As the weeks go on, tensions rise and Jem professes his innocence to Hannah.

When Hannah unearths new evidence about the case, she begins to doubt everything about her husband’s murder. But can Jem be trusted? Is he telling the truth? Was he wrongly convicted for a crime he didn’t commit? Or is he a desperate man, willing to say and do anything that might grant his freedom?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Perfect for fans of Snap by Belinda Bauer, The Widow by Fiona Barton, Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan • Deborah’s first novel was the bestseller My Husband’s Son and her last, The Dangerous Kind is out in paperback

THE AUTHOR

Deborah O’Connor is a writer and TV producer responsible for international TV formats like Look Me In The Eye, The Day The Cash Came and The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes. Born and bred in the North-East of England, in 2010 she completed the Faber Academy novel writing course. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.

T.A. Willberg MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER Agent: Hayley Steed Crime Late 1950s London: Marion Lane has recently been recruited into an exclusive, literally ‘underground’ detective agency. When a colleague is murdered within agency walls, she’s left to investigate a killer amongst them. 1958: concealed beneath the streets of Rights Sold London, lies the elusive world of Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries—a MARION LANE AND THE confounding maze of tunnels and halls, MIDNIGHT MURDER (June 2021) home to a myriad of curious gadgets. UK & Commonwealth: Trapeze/ Twenty three-year-old apprentice Orion/Hachette (Rachel Kenny) detective Marion Lane arrives at Miss US: Park Row/Harlequin (Laura Brickett’s for a day of training after another Brown) dreary weekend with her aunt, and learns German: Piper that Michelle White, a filing assistant, has Turkish: Esik Parca been murdered in the corridor outside the library.

With the agency elaborately disguised and protected from the outside world, it becomes chillingly clear: the killer is one of their own. Marion’s closest confidant and fellow detective becomes the prime suspect in White’s murder, and she is determined to clear her friend’s name and uncover the truth. Marion embarks on a perilous journey to find out who really killed Michelle White, and why…

HIGHLIGHTS

• For fans of Natasha Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle "This is the most fun I've had with a book this year. Every page is a delight, the worldbuilding is wonderful, and the mystery got its hooks into me from the first chapter. This is what would happen if a trainee James Bond was asked to solve an Agatha Christie mystery, and it's brilliant." Stuart Turton, author "A delightfully stylish romp through London's foggy streets and secret tunnels, complete with a tantalizing, steampunk-flavored mystery. Delicious fun!" Helene Wecker, author

THE AUTHOR

T.A. Willberg was home-schooled until she was 16, then spent the next two years in competitive horse riding, representing South Africa in mounted skill- at-arms. At 18 she began a chiropractic degree at the Durban University of Technology, where she qualified with a masters focusing on spinal deformities. She moved to Malta with her partner and divides her time between chiropractic and writing.

Janelle Harris KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE Agent: Hayley Steed Thriller A taut, gripping thriller about a new mother who finds herself increasingly isolated in her home, when she is stalked online and in real life by a lurking presence. Perfect for fans of Erin Kinsley.

Darcy Hogan’s perfect life is all over social Rights Sold media. She’s beautiful, she’s successful, and she and her childhood sweetheart are KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE about to become parents for the first time. (October 2020) But behind all the followers and the superficial likes lurks a darker truth… World English: Lake Union/ Amazon (Sammia Hamer)

In reality, Darcy feels isolated and afraid. Her UNDER LYING difficult pregnancy has her confined to the (November 2019) house, she’s being harassed online, and out- of-control debt threatens to ruin everything she’s worked so hard for.

When her husband is summoned away on business, Darcy’s cabin fever soon spirals into fear. Who is making mysterious phone calls and knocking on her door? Is it an old friend trying to reach out—or a stranger determined to push in?

As her due date creeps closer, Darcy feels ever more certain that someone is out to get her. She’s desperate to get away—but is she running from the right person?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Janelle Harris’ debut novel No Kiss Goodbye sold over a quarter of a million digital copies Praise for Under Lying: “A gripping tale told extremely well with exciting twists and turns throughout. A must-read!” Amazon reviewer, 5 stars “Under Lying kept me gripped from beginning to end. It is a cracking read with twist and turns galore. Highly recommended.” Amazon reviewer, 5 stars

THE AUTHOR

Janelle Harris was born in Dublin. She grew up surrounded by books and self -published her first novel, No Kiss Goodbye, in 2015. It quickly became an international bestseller, selling over a quarter of a million digital copies. Janelle now writes psychological thrillers for Lake Union and emotionally- led, contemporary fiction for Bookouture.

Rona Halsall ONE MISTAKE Agent: Hayley Steed Thriller The fifth novel from a bestselling psychological thriller author, perfect for fans of My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman.

Sara made one promise to herself when she Rights Sold was growing up in foster care: that if she was lucky enough to have a family, she’d ONE MISTAKE always do whatever it took to protect them. (May 2020)

World English: Bookouture (Isobel So when Sara’s husband Matt loses his job Akenhead) and every shred of his confidence with it, she knows it’s up to her to bring the family back OPTION PUBLISHERS: from the brink. Though she doesn’t know Czech: Computer Media where she can possibly find the money they Latvian: Kontinents need to keep afloat. HER MOTHER’S LIES (October 2019) Until her boss at work offers her a deal. ’He ll help out. She just has to do him one little THE HONEYMOON favour. (June 2019)

But could trusting him save Sara’s family, or will it be a one mistake that LOVE YOU GONE costs her absolutely everything? (November 2018)

KEEP YOU SAFE (August 2018)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The author of the bestselling thrillers Her Mother’s Lies, The Honeymoon, Love Your Gone and Keep You Safe • Sales of over 200,000 copies across her all her titles “It keeps you thrilled and guessing right to the end, and I couldn't stop reading until I had finished.” Goodreads Reviewer, Five Stars “Hooked from the very first page… Instantly sucks you in. I’m still in shock.” Goodreads Reviewer, Five Stars

THE AUTHOR

Rona Halsall lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and two guinea pigs. She is an outdoorsy person and loves stomping up a mountain, walking the coastal paths and exploring the wonderful glens and beaches on the Island while she's plotting how to kill off her next victim.

Daisy Pearce THE MISSING Agent: Catherine Cho Suspense

A missing girl. A loving mother who never gave up. A betrayed wife who doesn’t know who to trust.

Teenager Edie Hudson was nobody’s little Rights Sold darling, which made vanishing all too easy. Two decades later, she’s been forgotten by THE MISSING everyone except her mother, Samantha. (June 2020) And the person who knows what happened to her. World English: Amazon Publishing/Thomas & Mercer (Jack

Butler) Samantha has had a long time to remember, and to regret. Having seen how little her THE SILENCE daughter mattered to the community in the (March 2020) months following her disappearance, she wonders if Edie was lost before she was even gone. Or was it guilt, not indifference, that made the locals turn a blind eye? When she meets Frances, she at last starts to hope for answers.

Because Frances is obsessed with the mystery too, after finding a photo of her husband with the girl who disappeared.

What really happened all those years ago? And just how dangerous could it be to find out?

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Silence was a No. 1 Kindle bestseller in March 2020 • For fans of Louise Doughty, AJ Finn and Shalini Boland “Daisy Pearce’s dark and shimmering debut rose like a tide when I started reading, sweeping me up in its current. It took only a page, and immediately I was lost—captivated by Stella’s strange downward spiral, wrapped up in her story.” Jack Butler, Editor at Amazon Publishing

THE AUTHOR

Daisy Pearce began writing short stories as a teenager and dropped out of a fashion journalism course at university when she realised it wasn’t anywhere near as fun as making stuff up. Her debut, The Silence published by Thomas & Mercer was an internationally bestselling Kindle title.

Will Shindler THE KILLING CHOICE Agent: Hayley Steed Crime “Leave your daughter with me, or I will kill you both.” The second book in a blazing new crime series featuring DI Alex Finn and DC Mattie Paulsen, for fans of Mark Billingham and M.J. Arlidge.

It felt like any other evening before Karl and Rights Sold his daughter were ambushed by a figure in a blank mask. A knife is put to her throat, and THE KILLING CHOICE (February 2021) Karl is forced to make an impossible

decision. Stay and die, or walk away and UK & Commonwealth: Hodder & take this thug's word that they both will Stoughton/Hachette (Eve Hall) live. OPTION PUBLISHERS: Should he trust a villain and leave his Swedish: Modernista

daughter with a knife at her throat? Could he THE BURNING MEN ever live with himself if he did? (February 2020)

It's not long before more seemingly

unconnected and innocent people across London are offered a deal in exchange for their life. More blood is spilled, more families shattered, and more people are left to suffer with the consequences of their decisions.

DI Alex Finn and DC Mattie Paulsen must hunt for a killer that appears to have no face, no motive, and no conscience, before more victims are forced to take their choice.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Burning Men, the first in the series, was featured as a Best New Crime Fiction read by The Times

• Will Shindler spent a decade working in television drama as a scriptwriter on ‘Born and Bred’, ‘The Bill’ and ‘Doctors’

Praise for The Burning Men:

“An unmissable debut.” Sunday Express

THE AUTHOR

Will Shindler has been a Broadcast Journalist for the BBC for over twenty- five years. He currently combines co-producing the ‘Vanessa Feltz Breakfast Show’ on BBC Radio London with writing crime novels in the afternoon, and has previously worked as a television presenter for HTV, a sports reporter for BBC Radio Five Live, and one of the stadium presenters at the London Olympics. 26

Rebecca Kelly

Skin Whistle Agent: Giles Milburn Historical The silence of a young mute girl on a remote Scottish island hides a secret terrible enough to disturb the dead. Can a recently-arrived outsider put everything to rest? A Victorian ghost story in the tradition of Sarah Waters and Susan Hill. It is 1870 and grief-stricken Elsbeth takes Rights Sold the post of nanny on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea. Optimism that this SKIN WHISTLE might prove a tonic for her sadness is soon (TBA) quashed when she discovers that her charge, nine-year old Mary, is mute – still UK & Commonwealth: on obviously troubled by the recent death of submission her twin brother William. A death that nobody seems willing to discuss.

Elsbeth soon discovers that the house and island are haunted by past troubles, and that Mary’s silence masks a terrible and dangerous secret: William’s death was no accident.

As tension escalates and ghosts haunt her every move, Elsbeth must help Mary find her courage whilst battling her own fears, fears that seem to be summoned by the shrill and chilling shriek of a skin whistle: a grotesque instrument fashioned from bone and skin.

But as the truths reveal themselves and Elsbeth’s hopes of escape diminish, she comes to realise the real threat comes not from the dead, but the living.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Subject of multiple offers of representation • Currently working on her second historical novel

THE AUTHOR

Rebecca Kelly grew up as part of an eccentric family in a house was full of books and music, which fed her passions from an early age. She has had a variety of jobs but is now a bookkeeper in landscape design and construction for her husband’s business, despite bookkeeping being the antithesis of all that she loves! Family is at the heart of Rebecca’s life and she loves being a mother to her own two boys.

Elizabeth Macneal CIRCUS OF WONDERS Agent: Madeleine Milburn Historical From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, this is a story set in 1860s England about a young woman named Nell who is sold to the circus because of a curious birthmark on her face. It explores the themes of celebrity, illusion, power, belonging and female anger.

Nell lives a narrow and stifling existence Rights Sold working on a flower farm in Cornwall until CIRCUS OF WONDERS one day, because of a curious birthmark on (Spring 2022) her face, she is sold by her father to a travelling circus. UK & Commonwealth: Picador/ Macmillan (Sophie Jonathan) Soon she comes to embrace the tawdry US: Emily Bestler Books/Simon & glamour of the circus, and finds her own place Schuster (Emily Bestler) within a close community of misfits, especially Canadian: Simon & Schuster a horse-rider called Toby with whom she falls Catalan: Ara Llibres Czech: Albatros in love. After performing before Queen Danish: Lindhardt & Ringhoff Victoria, her celebrity rises. Dutch: The House of Books French: Presses de la Cite But with Nell’s success, Jasper the circus owner German: Eichborn/Luebbe starts recruiting more performers from albinos Greek: Psichogios to butterfly men. He takes on unaffordable debts, grows jealous of Toby’s Italian: Einaudi closeness to Nell, and begins to spiral into madness… Lithuanian: Alma Littera Polish: GW Foksal

Portuguese (EU): Topseller Circus of Wonders transports us to a circus in 1860s England, during a time Romanian: Editura Art when there was a troubling appetite for seeing ‘human wonders’ supported Slovak: Albatros even by Queen Victoria. Spanish: Ediciones B/PRH

HIGHLIGHTS OPTION PUBLISHERS: Bulgarian: Colibri • The Doll Factory sold over 26k hardbacks and was a Washington Chinese (Complex): Marco Polo Croatian: Stilus Post ‘50 Noticeable Works of Fiction in 2019’. It won the Caledonia Estonian: Pegasus Novel Award in 2018, and was a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller, a Hebrew: Kinneret Radio 2 Book Club pick, and Radio 4 Book at Bedtime,with a UK Hungarian: Geopen Korean: B612 Books paperback initial print-run of 75,000 copies Latvian: Zvaigzne • The Doll Factory optioned for TV by Buccaneer Media for global Russian: Eksmo Serbian: Laguna release Slovenian: Ucila “I’ve missed subway stops to finish a book, but [The Doll Factory] is the Swedish: Forum first time I almost missed a plane. Elizabeth Macneal’s delightfully Turkish: Pena Publications creepy novel kept me screwed to my office chair as my wife sent Ukrainian: Hemiro/FLC

irritated texts from the airport.” Washington Post THE DOLL FACTORY (May 2019 )

THE AUTHOR

Born in Scotland, Elizabeth Macneal is a potter based in Limehouse, East London, working from a small studio at the bottom of her garden. She read English Literature at Oxford University, before working in the City for several years. In 2017, she completed the Creative Writing MA at the UEA where she was awarded the Malcolm Bradbury scholarship. Elizabeth was featured on The Observer as one of ‘The Hottest-Tipped Debut Novelists of 2019’. 28

Ella Carey

THE JEWEL OF NEW YORK Agent: Giles Milburn Historical The first in a new series from an Amazon US top ten historical fiction bestselling author, set in 1940s New York.

It’s 1942, and Lillie Rose is on her way to Rights Sold becoming the first woman in history to work as head chef of New York’s iconic THE JEWEL OF NEW YORK restaurant, Valentino’s. (March 2021)

Unhappy with Lillie’s new “career”, her World English: Bookouture mother issues her with an ultimatum: Lillie (Maisie Lawrence) can remain in her job only if she promises to German: Aufbau Hungarian: Central Books marry wealthy socialite and family friend Norwegian: Bastion Nathaniel Carter the minute the war is over. Swedish: Printz

But faced with hostility from the older male OPTION PUBLISHERS: cooks at Valentino’s, Lillie soon finds herself Czech: Euromedia falling for her only friend in the kitchen, Tom Estonian: Ersen Morelli. But Tom is drafted, and soon after is Italian: Newton Compton reported missing in action. Polish: Proszynskyi Portuguese (EU): Saida de Despite her deepening despair over Tom and her complicated home life, Emergencia Lillie must find a way to inspire her disgruntled crew of middle aged male Slovak: Fortuna Libri chefs and female rookies, and guide her iconic restaurant through the food Slovenian: Desk d.o.o shortages and complicated loyalties of wartime New York.

ButHIGHLIGHTS when the unthinkable happens at the end of the war, Lillie is left with an impossible choice that will challenge her old allegiances and force her to • The first of Ella’s back-list titles to re-published by Bookouture, Beyond the Horizon, sold over over 5,000 copies in its first few weeks • Bookouture plan to publish two further books in the series and a further six of Ella’s backlist titles within the next two years, building her as the next big historical fiction brand in line with authors like Fiona Valpy and Lucinda Riley • German pre-empt from Aufbau in a seven-book deal for The Jewel of New York series and four back-list titles

THE AUTHOR

Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over twelve territories, in ten languages. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne and is hard at work on her next book.

Ben Creed CITY OF GHOSTS Agent: Giles Milburn Historical Crime A dark and original debut set in the midst of a bleak Leningrad winter. The City of Ghosts is about the will to survive – first in wartime, and then in a country where a denunciation, an arrest and a death sentence could come at any moment. The first in a trilogy,The City of Ghosts is set Rights Sold in 1950s Leningrad, where the shadows of the war and the threats of Stalinism loom CITY OF GHOSTS large. (October 2020)

UK & Commonwealth: Portland When five blackened, mutilated corpses are Press/Welbeck (Jon Elek) found neatly arranged between three US: on submission parallel railway lines, even Revol Rossel – Audio: W F Howes once a Conservatoire-trained violinist, now a Dutch: De Fontein humble state militia-cop – is sickened by the German: Droemer gruesome scene. Japanese: Kadokawa Polish: Rebis

Whether victims of the MGB or a crazed yet methodical killer, these bodies soon lead Rossel back into the dark and ruthless heart of the Soviet classical music establishment, a place where his dreams were shattered and his ghosts barely laid to rest.

HIGHLIGHTS

• A ‘Star Pick’ in written The Times & The Sunday Times Crime Club newsletter • For fans of Joseph Kanon, Tom Rob Smith and CJ Sansom • Hotly contested German auction with rights sold to Droemer “City of Ghosts reminded me of Gorky Park, only I liked this tense, complex thriller even better. Revol Rossel is a gem of a main character – a brilliant violinist and a cop. What a good idea.” James Patterson, author

THE AUTHORS

Ben Creed is the pseudonym for Chris Rickaby and Barney Thompson. Chris, from Newcastle upon Tyne, found his way into advertising as a copywriter and, after working for various agencies, started his own called Everything Different. Barney is a classically trained musician who studied under the legendary conducting professor Ilya Musin at the St Petersburg Conservatory for two years. He is fluent in Russian and is now an editor.

Fiona Valpy THE SKYLARK’S SECRET Agent: Madeleine Milburn Historical From the bestselling author of The Dressmaker’s Gift comes a heart-breaking novel of community, family sacrifice and love across generations. A young woman is forced to head back to her home village in rural Scotland, where she tries to piece together the story of her parents.

Loch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s Rights Sold daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s THE SKYLARK’S SECRET Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit (September 2020)

community changes forever. In defiance of World English: Lake Union/ his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls Amazon Publishing (Sammia in love with Flora, and as tensions build in Hamer) their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed. OPTION PUBLISHERS: Bulgaria: Hermes Decades later, Flora’s daughter, singer Lexie Croatian: Mozaik Knija Czech: Baronet Gordon, is forced to return to the village and Danish: Cicero to the tiny cottage where she grew up. Dutch: Meulenhoff Boekerij Having long ago escaped to the bright lights Estonian: Ersen of the West End, London still never truly felt French : City Editions like home. German: Aufbau Hebrew: Kinneret Now back, with a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother—and Hungarian: Könyvmolyképző Italian: Newton Compton the hostile-seeming village itself—have long been hiding secrets that make Lithuanian: Alma Littera her question everything she thought she knew. Macedonian: Kultura Norwegian: Cappelen Damm Polish: Swiat Ksiazki HIGHLIGHTS Portuguese (EU): Topseller Romania: RAO • A Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts Russian: AST Serbian: Vulkan Bestseller Slovak: Tatran Slovenian: Ucila • No.1 bestseller in the Amazon Fiction charts Spanish: Libros de seda • The Dressmaker’s Gifthas sold more than half a million copies in its Swedish: Forum Turkish: Arkadya first year of publication, bringing total sales of Fiona’s titles to over 1.5 million THE DRESSMAKER’S GIFT (October 2019) • The Beekeeper’s Promise was a No. 1 in the Australian Kindle Charts as well as being shortlisted for the RNA Goldsboro Books THE BEEKEEPER’S PROMISE Historical Romantic Novel Awards (July 2018)

SEA OF MEMORIES (March 2018) THE AUTHOR

Fiona Valpy spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. Her love for the country, its people and their history has found its way into the books she’s written. She draws inspiration from the stories of strong women, especially during the years of the Second World War, and her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place. Fiona now lives in Scotland, but still enjoys regular visits to France in search of the sun. 31

Jane Healey THE OPHELIA GIRLS Agent: Hayley Steed Historical A mother’s secret past and her daughter’s present collide in this richly atmospheric novel from the acclaimed author of The Animals at Lockwood Manor and Costa Short Story Award shortlistee.

In the summer of 1973, Ruth and her four friends were obsessed with pre-Raphaelite Rights Sold paintings—and a little bit obsessed with each THE OPHELIA GIRLS other. Drawn to the cold depths of the river (Autumn 2021) by Ruth’s house, the girls pretend to be the drowning Ophelia, with increasingly UK & Commonwealth: Mantle/ elaborate tableaus. But by the end of that Pan Macmillan (Sam Humphreys) fateful summer, real tragedy finds them US: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Nicole Angeloro) along the banks. Dutch: De Bezige Bij German: Hanser Twenty-four years later, Ruth returns to the suffocating, once grand house she grew up in, OPTION PUBLISHERS: the mother of young twins and seventeen- Italian: Mondadori year-old Maeve. Joining the family in the country is Stuart, Ruth’s childhood friend, THE ANIMALS AT LOCKWOOD MANOR who is quietly insinuating himself into their lives and gives Maeve the (March 2020) attention she longs for. She is recently in remission, unsure of her place in the world now that she is cancer-free. Her parents just want her to be an ordinary teenage girl. But what teenage girl is ordinary?

Alternating between the two fateful summers, The Ophelia Girls is a suspense -filled exploration of mothers and daughters, illicit desire, and the perils and power of being a young woman.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Animals of Lockwood Manor was No.4 on The Sunday Times Bestseller list, March book of the month for the Independent, and Waterstones and March Indie Pick in the US. Named Debut of Lockdown in May by Waterstones “Jane Healey’s excellent debut novel is a rich story full of tension and darkness. The star of the novel is the claustrophobic Manor itself, which casts a shadow over every page and hides a truly horrible secret. Atmospheric and disquieting.” A. J. Pearce, author

THE AUTHOR

Jane Healey studied on the MFA Fiction programme at CUNY Brooklyn College. Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review Online, The Normal School, and Banshee among others. She has also been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize 2013, the Costa Short Story Award 2014, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2016 and the Penguin Random House WriteNow mentoring programme 2017.

Inga Vesper THE LONG, LONG AFTERNOON Agent: Giles Milburn

Historical Mystery A riveting mystery from the heart of the American Dream, exploring the cracks in America’s perfect post-war façade. Summer 1959. The well-trimmed lawns of Rights Sold Sunnylakes, California, wilt, and the swimming pools shimmer. And at some THE LONG, LONG AFTERNOON point, Joyce Haney vanishes from her home. (Spring 2021)

UK & Commonwealth: Bonnier Ruby Wight arrives for work that day and Zaffre (Sophie Orme) encounters two terrified toddlers, a Czech: Metafora bloodstain on the kitchen floor, and a blue Dutch: De Fontein baby grow – unused. Detective Mick Blanke German: Rowohlt is assigned the case and fights the police’s Italian: Piemme desire to leap to convenient conclusions, but Polish: Burda Media Spanish: Planeta the evidence points nowhere.

Desperate, he approaches Ruby, who knows more about the secrets lurking in the Sunnylakes neighborhood than any detective ever could. But for Ruby, black, poor and from South-Central - the police are the problem. And caught up in the budding civil rights movement, the last thing she wants to do is collaborate with an institutionally racist police force.

After making another tragic discovery, however, Ruby decides she must help Mick, despite this jeopardizing everything: her livelihood, her relationship and – following a killing that shakes the suburbs further – even her life.

HIGHLIGHTS

• UK rights won by Sophie Orme at Bonnier in six-figure, two-book deal after a multi-way auction. Bonnier plan to publish it as a lead title in Spring 2021, in the same positioning asThe Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Familiars “Prose that’s gripping and page-turning, scalpel sharp and packed with atmosphere. A masterclass in what is revealed and withheld. A dark world that swallows you whole.” Sophie Orme, Bonnier “I have to say that it's a long time since I've been fascinated by a book from the UK as much as I've been when reading this novel...it's a narrative masterpiece.” Katharina Schlott, Rowohlt

THE AUTHOR

Inga Vesper is a journalist and editor. She moved to the UK from Germany to work as a carer, before the urge to write and explore brought her to science journalism. Inga has worked and lived in Syria and Tanzania, but always returned to London, because there’s no better place to find a good story than the top deck of a bus. 33

Miranda Malins THE REBEL DAUGHTER Agent: Giles Milburn

Historical The second novel in a trilogy of novels set during the time of Oliver Cromwell’s court, exposing the lives of Cromwell’s daughters. Perfect for fans of Anne O’Brien, Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory.

1643 – England is gripped by Civil War as Rights Sold King and Parliament take to the battlefield. Through this extraordinary struggle, Oliver THE REBEL DAUGHTER Cromwell rises from obscurity to become (Spring 2021) one of Parliament’s leading generals, bringing his older daughters Bridget and UK & Commonwealth: Orion/ Hachette (Victoria Oundjan) Elizabeth into the centre of the conflict. German: Rowohlt

The girls are as different as sisters can be: OPTION PUBLISHES Bridget is ambitious, devout and driven, Macedonian: Polica determined not to fall in love and disappear

into marriage and motherhood; while her THE PURITAN PRINCESS younger sister Elizabeth is beautiful and (April 2020) charming, her father’s favourite, and eager for love. When the King is defeated, the victorious Parliamentarians splinter apart as they search desperately for the right future.

For Elizabeth, the answer lies in healing old wounds and finding a compromise with the King, but for Bridget, only a revolution will suffice.

HIGHLIGHTS

“There is much to enjoy in this evocation of a family whose lives are so upended by the convulsions of history.” Antonia Senior, The Times

“A powerful and superbly researched historical novel with a refreshingly different perspective on one of the great figures of English history and his world. Both fascinating and very readable.” Andrew Taylor, author

“Miranda Malins creates a cast of three-dimensionalracters, vividly imagined against a deeply researched historical background. A joy and an education to read.” Rowan Williams, Bishop, Theologian & Poet

THE AUTHOR

Miranda Malins is a novelist and historian specialising in the history of Oliver Cromwell, his family and the Interregnum. She studied at Cambridge University, leaving with a PhD in 2010, and continues to speak at conferences and to publish journal articles and book reviews. She is a Trustee of the Cromwell Association. 34

Nell Carter

A THING CALLED LOVE Agent: Madeleine Milburn

Commercial Women’s Love comes in many forms. Romantic, unconditional, obsessive, toxic. The key is knowing when to open your heart...and when to walk away. This is not a love story. This is a story about a thing called love.

Life has left Jack and Clare battered and Rights Sold bruised—sometimes emotionally, sometimes literally. A THING CALLED LOVE (January 2021)

Years pass them by, almost unnoticed, until UK & Commonwealth: Welbeck each decides to make a change. (Tara Loder) Germany: HarperCollins But deciding to change isn’t something that happens once. It’s a choice each has to make again and again, and old patterns lurk around every corner.

When they meet, fate offers them a chance to help each other.

Can they be brave enough to open their hearts, strong enough to walk away, and wise enough to understand a thing called love?

HIGHLIGHTS

• One of Welbeck’s lead titles for 2021, launching a worldly and wise new voice in fiction

• Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Julie Cohen and Rosie Walsh

• The ideal Reading Group book with themes of love, loss and domestic violence, handled with skill are sensitivity

• Supported by extensive digital marketing and influence outreach, plus review and interview coverage

THE AUTHOR

Nell Carter lives in the South East with her husband. Their grown-up daughters have flown the coop but, like boomerangs, keep coming home! From a much larger family herself, Nell likes to write about real people – the dust and dirt that layer their relationships and the light and shade that make them laugh and cry.

Sophie Anderson THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN Agent: Madeleine Milburn Commercial Women’s A reclusive novelist with a fondness for butterflies enlists the help of a young assistant to complete her last novel before it’s too late. A bittersweet story about love and letting go.

In a small village in Cornwall, Maggie Muir Rights Sold is dying. A reclusive novelist and butterfly enthusiast living alone in her dilapidated THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN house, she reflects on the wretched course (June 2021) of her own life and sets out to write her very last novel. World English: Bookouture (Lydia Vasser-Smith)

Erin Turner has recently returned to the tiny Cornish village after a failed affair with a married man. Young and disillusioned, she finds herself at a cross-roads in her life, unsure of which path to take.

When cranky Maggie employs Erin as her assistant to type up her final novel, Erin learns that Maggie blames her teenage son for the death of her three-year- old daughter. Thirty-five years later, she wants to make amends and needs Erin’s help to tell her side of the story. But Erin is wrestling with her own demons and family secrets.

An unlikely friendship soon develops between the two women, and they help each other to unravel the webs of deceit.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Perfect for readers of Jojo Moyes, Clare Pooley and Ruth Hogan • Sophie Anderson recently completed a two-year Creative Writing course followed by an additional year of Advanced Writing Workshops at The Creative Writing Programme in Brighton

THE AUTHOR

Sophie Anderson’s background is in Television Production but she has always wanted to write. She’s currently drawing up an idea for a second novel, The Reservoir, exploring tragedy, guilt but also love, family, friendship and hope.

Michelle Adams HIDDEN TREASURES Agent: Madeleine Milburn

Commercial Women’s The secret past of a jewellery box discovered in the house of a hoarder sparks an unlikely friendship.

For ten years, Harry has been living with his Rights Sold mother, Helena, an inveterate hoarder, trying and failing to help her navigate life. HIDDEN TREASURES When Helena dies suddenly, Harry has no (Autumn 2021)

clue where to begin, and wonders what is North American: William Morrow/ left for him now that his mother is gone, and HarperCollins (Lucia Macro) the life he used to enjoy has disappeared. UK & Commonwealth: Trapeze/Orion/Hachette (Sam On the day of Helena’s funeral, Harry is Eades) unexpectedly visited by his ex-girlfriend, German: Heyne Tabitha, an art historian. She tells him that Italian: Giunti

before his mother’s death, Helena wrote to her with the instruction that Harry needed OPTION PUBLISHERS: her help. She produces an envelope and Greek: Minoas Editions inside Harry finds a note from his mother, Russian: AST written on the back of a photograph of a valuable, long-lost jewellery box, with instructions to find it somewhere in the house. LITTLE WISHES (November 2020)

In a search that leads to Harry to Tabitha to France on a journey of food, BETWEEN THE LIES friendship, family and discovery, this is a story about childhood romance and (July 2018) discovering who you are. MY SISTER (April 2017) HIGHLIGHTS

• Six-figure pre-empt for US rights • A heartfelt tale about the power of enduring love and two elderly people navigating the modern world together • Little Wishesmarked a new direction for Michelle, who previously published two suspense thrillers, which were translated into fifteen different languages • For fans of Julie Cohen’s Together and Hannah Beckerman’s If Only I Could Tell You

THE AUTHOR

Michelle Adams grew up in the UK and now lives in Cyprus with her husband and young daughter. Her debut women’s fiction novelLittle Wishesbe published in 2020 with Trapeze, following the publication of two psychological suspense novels with Headline.

Tracy Bloom THE WIFE WHO GOT A LIFE Agent: Madeleine Milburn Commercial Women’s Using a diary-style narrative, Bloom navigates the trials and tribulations of being an older woman with teenagers to deal with, a stale marriage, and the menopause looming…

Cathy Collins thinks she’s worked out Rights Sold exactly what she needs to do in order to nail getting older. There will be no midlife THE WIFE WHO GOT A LIFE crisis for her – most definitely not. (July 2021)

At the start of the year she develops a World English: HarperCollins/ HarperFiction (Kate Bradley) unique list of monthly tasks she believes will set her up for tackling the coming of middle age with ease, including finding her hidden talent, putting a rocket up her son’s arse, making the necessary announcements about the menopause, and having a Really Important Chat with her husband – plus dancing with Hugh Jackman, of course.

Unfortunately no one ever said the ageing process was that straightforward, and when her husband throws in his own midlife bombshell, it throws her into crisis mode despite her carefully laid plans…

Can Cathy’s self-care remedies see her through the year? Can she rediscover what makes her happy? Or will she give into temptation when she starts to be noticed again?

HIGHLIGHTS

• The latest novel by the No.1 digital bestseller, perfect for fans of Milly Johnson, Carole Matthews and Jill Mansell

Praise for Tracy Bloom “Loved this book. Tracy Bloom had me in stitches. Again.” Milly Johnson, author “This comic novel combines humour and wisdom with very entertaining results.” Katie Fforde, author

THE AUTHOR

Tracy Bloom started writing when her cruel, heartless husband ripped her away from her dream job shopping for rollercoasters for the UK's leading theme parks, to live in America with a brand new baby and no mates. In a cunning plan to avoid domestic duties and people who didn't understand her Derbyshire accent, she wrote her romantic comedy, No-One Ever Has Sex on Tuesday. 38

Katherine Slee THE LOVE WE LEFT BEHIND Agent: Hayley Steed Commercial Women’s A sweeping women’s fiction novel for fans of The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett and One Day by David Nicolls.

London, 2012: Erika Lindberg has it all – Rights Sold adoring fiancé, financial independence and a close-knit group of friends – and yet she THE LOVE WE LEFT BEHIND still can’t shake the feeling that something (July 2021) is missing from her life. World English: Lake Union/ Amazon Publishing (Sammia One morning she stumbles across a reminder Hamer) from her past, a reminder which forces her to remember the life she used to have, but OPTION PUBLISHERS: has spent over fifteen years trying to forget. Czech: Albatros Media German: Hoffmann & Campe Oxford, 1995: Niamh O’Donoghue is in her Italian: Garzanti second year at university. She is smart and Slovak: Albatros Media tenacious, but feels like an outsider, like she doesn’t quite belong. She also has no idea FOR EMILY what to do with her life, unlike all of her peers, particularly her best friend, (September 2019) Erika, who is as confident as she is beautiful.

Then Niamh meets Leo and starts to believe that - despite Erika’s reservations - fairy-tales might just exist.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sammia Hamer at Lake Union won rights at auction, publishing simultaneously in the US, UK and Australia in July 2021 “I devoured this intoxicating novel in one sitting and was blown away by Katherine’s writing and how with the dual perspective of Erika and Niamh, Katherine navigates readers through the complexities of their life decisions. This is a truly relatable story of heartbreak that really resonated with me.” Sammia Hamer, Lake Union

THE AUTHOR

Katherine Slee studied Modern History at Oxford University and formerly worked in investment banking. She now lives in Kent with her husband, two kids and a crazy puppy.

Andrea Michael THE THINGS THAT MATTER Agent: Hayley Steed Commercial Women’s A beautifully moving and poignant tale of love in the face of adversity, perfect for fans of Amanda Prowse and Susan Lewis.

Natasha and Daniel were meant for each Rights Sold other. On paper you’d never think it so; whilst Taz would arrive at school hungry THE THINGS THAT MATTER and in clothes too small, Dan’s affluent (March 2021) background was no secret. But they were drawn together and found comfort in the World English: Harper Collins/ One More Chapter (Hannah Todd) fact that neither felt they truly belonged.

THE BOOK OF US When something terrible happens and Dan is (March 2020) sent to prison, Taz doesn’t even pause to think before standing by his side. As the ground beneath Dan crumbles, it’s Taz who is there to catch him. A family of two, it’s them against the world.

But now, years later, what happens when the threats they face come from within?

Plagued by guilt over a secret in her past, Taz must face the truth or risk losing Dan forever.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The author of 12 commercial women’s fiction novels for both HQ digital, and Canelo as A.L. Michael • Andrea grew up in North London and, after studying English Literature with Creative Writing at the UEA, she went on to do an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship, followed by an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes where she explored the power of creative writing to be used in recovery from eating disorders

THE AUTHOR

Andrea Michael works in marketing, and occasionally runs writing for wellbeing workshops. She’s a big fan of writerly things, like stationary, biscuits and gin. She lives in Hertfordshire with her partner and their resident fluffy psychopath. She recently turned 30 and likes to write about difficult women (they say to write what you know).

Owen Nicholls PERFECT TIMING Agent: Hayley Steed

Commercial Women’s The next gorgeous rom-com, following love and missed moments, from the author of Love, Unscripted.

Tom and Jess are convinced of one thing. Rights Sold They’re going to make it. PERFECT TIMING Tom dreams of following in his musical (Spring 2021)

hero’s footsteps, Jess is convinced she’s the UK & Commonwealth: Headline/ next comedy superstar. Hachette (Jess Whitlum-Cooper) US: Crown (Hilary Teeman) What neither of them have any time for is Canada: HarperCollins (Iris love. Tupholme) Italy: Sperling So when the two meet at the Edinburgh Sweden: Modernista

festival and find that once in a lifetime OPTION PUBLISHERS: connection, they both try and run a mile. But Germany: Hoffman & Campe fate has other ideas. LOVE, UNSCRIPTED Pulled together over the next five years, Tom’s music and Jess’s comedy (June 2019) take them each to incredible highs and crushing lows.

But in comedy, music and relationships, timing is everything.

Can Jess and Tom ever sync up? And will they finally make it the only way they really want?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Love, Unscripted was featured as a ‘Best Romance Books of February’ on Amazon and GoodReads

'“A complete delight.” Holly Bourne, author

“Sometimes a book comes along and it feels dusted with magic – Love, Unscripted is one of those books. Nostalgic, tender and achingly cool – it’s book treasure, my new favourite.” Josie Silver, author of One Day in December

“[An] inventive, clever debut. Nicholls writes with verve and wit…Nick Hornby fans will appreciate this.” Publishers Weekly

THE AUTHOR

Owen Nicholls is a screenwriter with a Masters in Scriptwriting from the UEA. His first screenplay -- a biopic of the filmmakers Powell and Pressburger -- was optioned to Bedlam Productions, the BAFTA and Academy Award-winning producers of The King's Speech. His work has appeared in Empire and NME, and in 2018 he was selected for the Escalator Scheme run by the National Centre For Writing. 41

Abigail Mann THE SISTER SURPRISE Agent: Hayley Steed

Commercial Women’s The next hilarious novel from Abigail Mann, author of The Lonely Fajita, for fans of Marian Keyes, Beth O’Leary, Sophie Ranald and Mhairi McFarlane.

They’ve never met. But they’re about to… Rights Sold

Journalist Ava takes a DNA test hoping to THE SISTER SURPRISE discover her roots. Instead, she finds out she (Spring 2021) has a half-sister … whilst on a live stream watched by 100,000 people. Her boss thinks World English: Avon/ it’s the perfect click-bait story. Ava just wants HarperCollins (Matilda McDonald) to go to Moira’s tiny Scottish village and meet her. THE LONELY FAJITA (May 2020) But when Ava arrives undercover as a volunteer farmhand, she realises Moira – who’s her pig-wrestling, chatterbox polar opposite – might not be delighted by the news.

And the longer Ava stays in Kilroch, with its inappropriately attractive vicar and ties to her hidden family past, the more complicated this surprise is going to get…

HIGHLIGHTS

• Runner up for Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019 “Mann is a sparky new talent on the scene – I devoured The Lonely Fajita! Sparkling with humour, rich with wonderful characters and an absolute treat to read. Comforting, witty, wise and thoroughly entertaining. (And it made me crave fajitas.)” Milly Johnson, author “Moving and funny, this is perfect for fans of Holly Bourne and Marian Keyes.” My Weekly Magazine

THE AUTHOR

Abigail Mann has worked with words in many different guises, from studying English and Creative Writing at the University of Kent, to teaching literature at secondary level in London and Sheffield. Inspired by the experience of interning in the app industry and living in London in her early twenties, Abigail left teaching to write her first novel. Abigail lives in London, but frequently returns to her homeland of Norfolk.

Hannah Tovey THE REINVENTION OF IVY EDWARDS Agent: Hayley Steed

Commercial Women’s The follow-up book in the series to The Education of Ivy Edwards: raw, confessional commercial women's fiction with the most endearing and honest of heroines. A Bridget Jones for the modern age.

What happens when you lose everything? Rights Sold You start all over again. THE REINVENTION OF IVY Ivy Edwards hasn’t had a good year. She’s EDWARDS (Spring 2020) about to turn thirty-three, she’s unemployed, heartbroken and her mother World English: Piatkus/Hachette won’t leave her alone for five minutes. But at (Emma Beswetherick) least she pays her rent on time.

Embarking on a new career, a new THE EDUCATION OF IVY relationship, and new family drama, Ivy’s EDWARDS (May 2020) about to realise that life is full of surprises.

The Reinvention of Ivy Edwards reminds us that life isn’t a prescribed narrative; it is ever evolving, and we can reinvent ourselves however many times we like. The magic often comes when we least expect it, and Ivy can pull rabbits out of her hat, too ...

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Education of Ivy Edwardswas picked as a 2020 Summer Essential Audiobook on Apple • It hit top 100 in the charts on publication and was chosen as a Topshop ‘Must Read’ “An absolute joy. . . reminds me of some of my all time favourites - Adults, Not Working, The To-Do List.” Daisy Buchanan, author “Raw, unapologetic and pretty damn relatable . . . a brilliant debut.” Heat Magazine

THE AUTHOR

Hannah Tovey is from South Wales, but grew up in Hong Kong. She graduated from Faber Academy in 2018, after completing the Writing a Novel course under tutor Richard Skinner, where she finished The Education of Ivy Edwards. She lives in Bow, East London.

43 NON-FICTION Katherine May WINTERING Agent: Madeleine Milburn

Non-Fiction A starkly beautiful memoir about the power of rest and retreat in difficult times, encouraging readers to change the way we approach dormant periods in our lives.

How do you survive the ‘wintering’ phase of Rights Sold your life? WINTERING (November 2020) Wintering, the dormant periods in our lives, the dark moments we endure—which can be UK & Commonwealth: brought about in a myriad of ways; from the Rider/Ebury/PRH (Biana Bexton) death of a loved one, to a sudden change in US: Riverhead/Viking/PRH (Jynne Dilling Martin) circumstances, or mental health issues – can Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam be lonely, damaging and catch us off guard. THE ELECTRICITY OF EVERY LIVING THING Katherine May recounts her own year-long (May 2019) journey through winter, and how she found strength and inspiration when life felt frozen. Part memoir, part exploration of a human condition, Wintering explores the healing nature of the great outdoors to help us overcome and embrace our own wintering experiences, and how, much like nature, we can learn to appreciate these low periods, and what they have to teach us, before the ushering in of a new season. HIGHLIGHTS

• Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize celebrating the best in nature writing. Katherine May has been featured in The Observer, The Guardian, Grazia and has spoken on BBC Radio 2. She has launched an accompanying podcast called ‘The Wintering Sessions’ “Wintering is every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself ... This is truly a beautiful book.” Elizabeth Gilbert, author "A beautifully written mix of memoir and philosophy...With a pandemic keeping us isolated in so many ways, May offers much-needed solace and comfort and a reminder that seasons eventually turn." Starred Booklist Review

THE AUTHOR

Katherine May writes both fiction and non-fiction, including The Electricity of Every Living Thing, a memoir about a woman’s walk into the wilds (Trapeze, 2018). She was a resident writer for Tate Britain’s education programme, and until 2017 ran the Creative Writing MA at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has written for The Times, Good Housekeeping and Psychologies, and has been a regular pundit on BBC Radio London.

Hayley Steed IN BLACK & WHITE Agent: Hayley Steed

Non-Fiction A young barrister lays bare the institutionalised racism of the justice system; in equal parts shocking, compelling, confounding and powerful.

Alexandra Wilson was a teenager when her Rights Sold family friend Ayo was stabbed on his way home from football. Ayo's death compelled IN BLACK AND WHITE her to enter the legal profession in search of (August 2020) answers. UK & Commonwealth: Octopus As a junior criminal and family law barrister, (Claudia Connal) Alexandra finds herself navigating a world and a set of rules designed by a privileged Film/TV: Mam Tor Productions few. A world in which fellow barristers sigh with relief when a racist judge retires: 'I've got a black kid today and he would have had no hope'.

In her debut book, Alexandra shows us how it feels to defend someone who hates the colour of your skin, or someone you suspect is guilty. We see what it is like for children coerced into county line drug deals and the damage that can be caused when we criminalise teenagers.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Named as “One to Watch” in The Bookseller and as one of Waterstones’ best books for August. She’s spoken on ITV news and BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour, and featured in Grazia Magazine, the Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Times Magazine • Optioned for television by Mam Tor Productions

“Raw, ambitious drive, with compassion at its heart...This is the story of a young woman who overcame all the obstacles a very old profession could throw at her, and she survived, with her integrity intact.” Benjamin Zephaniah

“An absolute triumph; a compelling and courageous memoir forcing the legal profession to confront uncomfortable truths about race and class. Alexandra Wilson is a bold and vital voice.” The Secret Barrister

THE AUTHOR

Alexandra Wilson is a junior barrister and grew up in Essex. Her mother is White British, her father is Black British and her paternal grandparents were born in Jamaica and came to England as part of the Windrush generation. After studying at University of Oxford, she was awarded the first Queen's scholarship by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, a scholarship awarded to students showing exceptional promise in a career at the Bar. 46

James Plunkett END STATE: HOW HISTORY EXPLAINS OUR POLITICALLY DANGEROUS TIMES Agent: Giles Milburn Non-fiction From Harvard scholar and ex-policy advisor at 10 Downing Street, End State tells the fascinating story of the race between politics and technology, and presents reasons to be optimistic by looking back at western history. Roughly once a century, technological Rights Sold change accelerates and our political institutions fall behind. At times like these, END STATE public confidence collapses- it feels like (Spring 2021) things are spinning out of control. UK & Commonwealth: Trapeze/ This happened at the height of the industrial Orion/Hachette (Jamie Coleman) revolution and it happened again in the early 20th century as mass-production took hold.

Like the third instalment in a disaster movie, the same dynamic is back and this time it's stronger than ever. Governments have once again lost their grip, struggling to govern in a time of intense technological change.

Data capitalism leaves people freshly exposed to risk and injustice, while vast big tech monopolies dominate new industries without paying back.

But there is still hope. There are the lessons from history to guide the way. Can they show us how to harness this beast? And once we have mastered control, where will it take us?

HIGHLIGHTS

• For readers of Shoshana Zuboff and Daniel Susskind • End State makes large ideas accessible in much the same way as Yuvol Noah Harari, with a dash of Bill Bryson • James regularly appears on all major broadcast outlets and has published multiple op-eds • Winner of the prestigious Rybczynski Prize for economics writing • Regular public speaker

THE AUTHOR

James Plunkett has worked at the heart of public policy for over a decade. He was an Advisor in Downing Street throughout the financial crisis, where he shaped technology policy with figures like Tim Berners-Lee. Later a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard, and Director of Policy at the UK’s leading economic think tank. He has appeared on all major broadcast outlets, and in 2018 he won the prestigious Rybczynski Prize for economics writing.

Becca Caddy SCREEN TIME Agent: Catherine Cho

Non-Fiction How do we find balance in a world that tempts you to scroll, like, click and reply on one side and demands you to switch off, disconnect and detox on the other?

It has become second nature to expect on- Rights Sold demand entertainment at the touch of a screen, to track your steps and sleeping SCREEN TIME patterns, to navigate the best route home (January 2021)

through an app, to end your day with a UK & Commonwealth: Bonnier mindless scroll of Instagram. Books (Susannah Otter)

What we may not have considered is whether we have the best relationship with technology in our lives. Are we aware of the way that tech has changed the way our brains process information? Of its impact on our mental health? Are we aware of how much we’ve given over to the device in our hand?

We are all aware of the way that technology has exponentially changed the way we live, from our relationships, to the way we connect with strangers and friends. Screen Time is an accessible, insightful look at how to find balance in a society where technology is increasingly taking over our daily lives. Written in the style of Lauren Bravo’s How to Break Up with Fast Fashion, Screen Time presents a realistic way to have a healthy relationship with the technology in your life.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Becca Caddy has spent more than 10 years writing about all the latest technology developments, including smart home devices, virtual reality, robotics, mobile health, and digital platforms for The Guardian, TechRadar, Wired UK, OneZero, Metro UK, MSN, Stuff, T3, Inverse, and New Scientist

THE AUTHOR

Becca Caddy is a freelance technology journalist based in London. She is endlessly curious about the many ways technology intersects with human behaviours, and how apps, networks, and devices can be better used to help people live happier, healthier lives.

Melissa Hogenboom THE MOTHERHOOD COMPLEX Agent: Catherine Cho

Non-Fiction A BBC science journalist, Melissa Hogenboom examines the biological and psychological changes during pregnancy and motherhood, and how they influence a woman’s sense of self.

Long before we even contemplate becoming Rights Sold parents, biology and society are already THE MOTHERHOOD COMPLEX pushing us to shape our identity as (Spring 2021) prospective parents. Why does motherhood

bring such a dramatic identity shift that UK & Commonwealth: Piatkus/ affects so many areas of our lives? What can Little, Brown/Hachette (Holly we learn about motherhood from the fields Harley) Dutch: Volt of psychology and neuroscience? Korean: Hanmunhwa Multimedia

The Motherhood Complex is a scientific exploration of what it means to become a mother. From exploring the way our brain changes during pregnancy to the psychological impact of changing physicality, to the intrusion of technology on modern motherhood, Hogenboom will discuss how external events and society at large influences mothers.

This is a different type of parenting book about the ‘parents’ themselves.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pre-empted in Holland by Volt

• For readers of Adam Rutherford, Expecting Better by Emily Ostler, and The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Phillipa Perry

• Multi-award winning science journalist, including the AAS Kavli Science Journalism Award – Gold Award for Best TV Spot News/ Feature Reporting, and the Association of British Science Writers – Best scripted/edited TV programme or online video

THE AUTHOR

Melissa Hogenboom is a multi-award-winning science journalist and editor at the BBC. She is currently the editor of a global digital documentary platform, BBC Reel. She is passionate about telling evidence-based stories for a general audience. Her pieces range from going troll hunting in Iceland, to searching for her cosmic twin in a parallel Universe, to tracing the footsteps of the world’s last Neanderthals. She is a current Learning Science Exchange (LSX) fellow. 49

Michelle Elman THE JOY OF BEING SELFISH: HOW TO SET BOUNDARIES AND WHY WE NEED THEM Agent: Hayley Steed Non-Fiction TedX speaker, life coach and award-winning activist Michelle Elman presents an empowering new manual for taking back control over your life from others. Self-love is a concept everyone can get on Rights Sold board with – as long as you have done everything you need to do for everyone else THE JOY OF BEING SELFISH first! The problem is, once you've done that, (February 2021) there is usually no time or energy left for you. UK & Commonwealth: Welbeck Publishing (Isobel Wilkinson) Boundaries are the practical side of self-love: Audio: Audible (Victoria Haslam) they are the way you teach others how to treat you, they enable us to love ourselves OPTION PUBLISHERS: and others more, and they rid your life of the Czech: Leda drama of toxic relationships. AM I UGLY With its combination of real-life examples, (July 2018) journaling elements and empowering expert advice, life coach and influencer '@scarrednotscared' Michelle Elman's new book will help you to reclaim selfishness as a force for good. • Gain higher self-esteem, confidence and personal power • Protect yourself from manipulation, gaslighting and disrespect • Grow your sense of self and allow you to build a strong identity • Learn how to say no and stop being a doormat

HIGHLIGHTS

• Michelle Elman’s TedX talk "Have You Hated Your Body Enough Today?" has been viewed over 50,000 times on YouTube, and her debut book Am I Ugly? was released in 2018 • She has also written for a number of reputable publications including Huffington Post, Grazia, Metro, MTV and Healthline, and Stylist

THE AUTHOR

Michelle Elman is a five-board accredited Life Coach and award-winning activist. She is most known for her campaign Scarred Not Scared and has an active social media presence with over 300k followers across her accounts. She has appeared on Sky News, Loose Women, Channel 5 News, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC sharing her expert opinion, as well as radio worldwide from Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Ireland. 50 The Factory, 1 Park Hill, London SW4 9NS +44(0)20 7499 7550 www.mmla.co.uk

THE TEAM

Madeleine Milburn, Director — [email protected] Giles Milburn, Managing Director & Agent — [email protected] Liane-Louise Smith, Rights Director — [email protected] Hayley Steed, Book to Screen Agent & Literary Agent — [email protected] Catherine Cho, Agent & Digital Rights Manager — [email protected] Georgina Simmonds, Rights Agent — [email protected] Sophie Pélissier, Rights Assistant — [email protected]