BFLA Best of 2021

At Blake Friedmann we’re proud that so many of our authors and their books were included in ‘Best of 2021’ selections. To celebrate these achievements, we have compiled the following summary of the lists they were featured in, along with the praise that accompanied their selection.

THE HIERARCHIES by Ros Anderson

‘The overall winner, our undisputed Book of the Year, goes to THE HIERARCHIES. This book spread through the store like contraband on the playground, pressed into the hands of one bookseller after another. A dystopian, feminist masterpiece that everyone should read.’ – Waterstones Brighton, ‘Book of the Year’

THE YOUNG TEAM by Graeme Armstrong

One of Foyles’ Paperbacks of the Year

One of Waterstones’ Paperbacks of the Year

LOVE IN COLOUR by Bolu Babalola

One of Foyles’ Paperbacks of the Year

One of Waterstones’ Paperbacks of the Year

‘This multifaceted, multitalented Nigerian-British writer – humorist, television creator and now bestselling author – searched the globe to find a radically diverse group of stories about love, from magical folk tales of West Africa to iconic Greek myths and ancient legends from the Middle East. Then, with an evocative and vivid style, she brought new life to old tales and wrote three original stories of her own. The result is a remarkable modern collection of 13 short stories about love.’ – Carole V. Bell, NPR, ‘Best Romance Books 2021’

CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet

One of Nicola Sturgeon’s Favourite Books of 2021

‘Beautifully balanced between harrowing and humorous, CASE STUDY follows a woman who seeks out a captivating psychotherapist whom she believes to be responsible for her sister’s suicide.’ – Waterstones, ‘The Best Books of 2021’

‘Graeme Macrae Burnet’s CASE STUDY is a novel about a 1960s psychologist where the blurring between fact and fiction constantly wrong-foots its readers while still keeping us lavishly entertained.’ – James Walton, The Spectator, ‘Books of the Year’

‘Graeme Macrae Burnet is a master of the false but apparently authentic document… This is a novel, which like Macrae burnet’s previous ones, holds the attention, develops an insidious narrative interest, and poses questions about the nature of the self and the authenticity of identity. There is comedy here too. Indeed, depending on the angle of the view, Braithwaite is a comic character, if also a disturbing one. Certainly in his depiction of him, Macrae Burnet catches the self-satisfied idiocy of one strand of 1960s culture. Indeed, he is done so well and seems so authentic in his inauthenticity that you might be surprised to find no mention of him in the index of John Clay’s admirable biography of Ronnie Laing. For the most part, though Macrae Burnet finds different voices for the writer of the notebooks and the unnamed author of the biographical Braithwaite chapters, his style is plain, lucid, very readable and rich in irony. There are fine comic passages… But it is the appalling and yet ultimately rather pathetic Braithwaite who gives the book its momentum, and is through him that the tone and temper of the times are captured. As in his other novels, Macrae Burnet writes with an admirable lucidity, at the same time being able to probe and shed light on the dark places of the mind. Writing in a prose that is spare, deadpan and yet alive, he poses questions about the nature and perception of what we choose to call reality. He is an uncommonly interesting and satisfying novelist.’ – The Scotsman, ‘Scottish Books 2021’

THE BERESFORD by Will Carver

One of LoveReading’s Books of the Year 2021

‘In THE BERESFORD by Will Carver a maze-like boarding-house becomes a scene of carnage as the tenants are dispatched in grisly fashion one by one. What is going on and who can bring an end to the bloodshed? Carver writes in the tradition of the Theatre of the Absurd, but with added grue. Shocking, compulsive and persuasive. It’s one hell of a ride for those of a mind to jump aboard.’ – Ian Rankin, The New Statesman, ‘Books of the Year’

‘The Theatre of the Absurd gets dunked in gore as the residents of a creepy boarding house take part in a never-ending killing spree’ – Ian Rankin, ’Ian’s End of Year Round-up: 2021’

‘The strangest and creepiest novel I read all year. A boarding house becomes a scene of carnage as residents start bumping each other off. What compels them and how can the chain be severed? This is the theatre of the absurd with added grue, and while Carver’s unique and twisted talent won’t be to all tastes I found this persuasive and compulsive.’ – Ian Rankin, Daily Express, ‘Best Books of 2021’

THE LAST THING TO BURN by Will Dean

One of Deadly Pleasures Staff Best of 2021

Winner of the 2021 Rick O’Shea Book Club International Book of the Year Category

A ‘Hot Press Books of 2021’ honourable mention

‘For pleasure reading, I want warmth and pace and narrative and a steady hand, not sentences that have their eyes on prizes. Will Dean, a man with impossibly luxurious hair who lives in a Swedish forest, is known for his Tuva Moodyson crime fiction series. Tuva, a deaf journalist, is a great character but her adventures can get repetitive. There is nothing repetitive about THE LAST THING TO BURN, an astonishing standalone from Dean, in which a young Vietnamese woman lives an appallingly coerced life with a brute called Lenn. Dean gets the voices chillingly right, the tension rises as inevitably as the claustrophobic pressure draws in, and “Jane” is a woman who you want to triumph at whatever cost. This novel will make your skin crawl with fury at the insidious violence of men.’ – Rose George, The New Statesman, ‘Books of the Year’

‘The crime novel that made my heart race fastest was THE LAST THING TO BURN by Will Dean, a timely and unforgettable locked-door mystery.’ – Anne Cater, Daily Express, ‘Books of the Year’

‘THE LAST THING TO BURN – Will Dean’s first stand-alone novel – is an extremely tense read. It centres on a Vietnamese woman held against her will in a remote farmhouse in the East Midlands. She endures her captivity, day-in-day-out, until two things happen that force her to fight back. This is absolutely a story of survival in its most basic form, but more than that it’s about the immense power of the human spirit – how it can be bashed and broken and still persevere. Dean doesn’t just build suspense – he cloaks his story in it, creating a crushing, claustrophobic atmosphere that feels as if it will never end. But the story does contain unexpected and heartening moments of light that remind readers of the power of humanity and compassion. These are the things that linger when the book comes to a close – and still linger all these months later too.’ – Natalie Xenos, Culturefly, ‘The Best Books of 2021’

‘This is the harrowing story of a young Vietnamese woman trafficked into the UK and kept for years as a slave by a psychopathic farmer in the middle of absolutely nowhere. She thinks she's protecting her sister by remaining compliant but when she discovers that she’s been lied to, she attempts to escape with a baby and a broken foot. It’s short, brilliant and gut-achingly tense.’ – Sunday Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell, Amazon Book Review, ‘Lisa Jewell’s Favourite Reads of 2021’

‘THE LAST THING TO BURN works because Will Dean takes a very risky chance with the narrative – the reader spends the entire novel in Jane’s mind, seeing everything from her perspective. Many writers explore points-of-view tactics from a different gender and while making that feel authentic is often challenging, skilled authors make this look easy. In THE LAST THING TO BURN, however, Will Dean goes one step further, embodying the soul and mind of Jane in a way that is not often witnessed – even in cases where authors are writing POVs that match their gender. Not only does Dean do this himself, but he brings the reader along with him to such a level that Jane/Reader almost merge and it becomes like our very safety is at risk.’ – Kristopher Zgorski, BOLO Books, ‘Top Reads of 2021’

THE ENGLISHMAN by David Gilman

One of LoveReading’s Books of the Year 2021

Peter James

One of Bookscan’s Top Ten Fiction Authors for 2021 (number 9, with LEFT YOU DEAD as top-selling title)

SWIMMING IN THE DARK by Tomasz Jedrowski

One of Foyles’ Paperbacks of the Year

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? by Lucy Mangan

One of LoveReading’s Books of the Year 2021

‘An uncannily accurate portrayal of the whirlwind of modern family life, Mangan's side-splitting novel introduces Liz and her weird and wonderful brood as she attempts to make it through the year without losing it completely.’ – Waterstones, ‘The Best Books of 2021’

WAYFARERS’ HYMNS by Zakes Mda

‘In Mda’s 31st book, a boy’s desire to become a great famo musician leads him all the way from the Lesotho mountain region to Johannesburg where he comes up against a sordid underworld of crime and gangs.’ – Brittle Paper, ’50 Notable African Books of 2021’

THE DARK FLOOD by Deon Meyer

‘THE DARK FLOOD, the new Benny Griessel thriller from Deon Meyer – need we say more?’ – Daily Maverick, ‘Essential Books of 2021’

WHEN THEY FIND HER by Lia Middleton

One of Apple Books’ Bestselling Audiobooks of 2021

‘I would also like to shout-out my favourite domestic thriller of the year, WHEN THEY FIND HER by Lia Middleton. Totally unputdownable, it’s the sign of a brilliant author when they can build such empathy with a character making a terrible decision within the first few pages and yet keep the reader glued right until the very end as the rest of the twisting plot unfolds.’ – Amy McCulloch, Dead Good Books, ‘Best Crime Novels of 2021’

THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL by Sheila O’Flanagan

‘Putting a spin on wedding stories, each wedding of a glorious summer brings a new surprise for Delphie, who has the chance to reshape her future.’ – Denise O’Donoghue, Irish Examiner, ‘Best of the Year Lists’ 

THE APRIL DEAD by Alan Parks

One of Deadly Pleasures Staff Best of 2021

‘Alan Parks, like the best writers, makes you keenly aware of all the pain out there and then (almost) alleviates it.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times, ’16 Best Crime Books 2021’

SHIVER by Allie Reynolds

One of Deadly Pleasures Staff Best of 2021

One of Foyles’ Paperbacks of the Year   

‘Buckle up – this chilling new thriller from professional snowboarder-turned-author Allie Reynolds will have you feeling like you’re hurtling down a black run from page one… for page-turning power, this mystery had us gripped.’ – Woman and Home, ‘2021 Book Awards’

‘I’ve never been snowboarding in my life and have never been tempted to try it. But I love books that give insights into passions I don’t share, and give a feel for how and why they’re so alluring. This is about a group of competitive snowboarders and is a combination of flashbacks—to when they were all competing, ten years ago—and the present, when they attend a reunion and get stuck up a mountain. The book gives a real feel for what it’s like to be in a resort in the French Alps: the drinking, the snow, the lifts, the camaraderie. I was not surprised, after finishing the book, to find out the author, Allie Reynolds, was once a top UK freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. All in all, it’s a classic Agatha Christie-style locked-room mystery combined with very vivid accounts of being in the mountains and risking life and limb going down the halfpipe.’ – Sophie Roell, Five Books, ‘The Best Crime Fiction of 2021’

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH By Monique Roffey

 One of Bookshop.org’s ‘The Bookshop 100: Indie Champions 2021’

One of Foyles’ Paperbacks of the Year

One of Waterstones’ Paperbacks of the Year

Film/TV rights to Ros Anderson’s debut THE HIERARCHIES optioned by Margot Robbie’s company LuckyChap, SK Global, and Mazur Kaplan

After a fiercely fought auction, film/tv rights in Ros Anderson’s debut novel THE HIERARCHIES were acquired by SK Global and Mazur Kaplan, who will will co-produce with Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara under their LuckyChap Entertainment banner. The deal was negotiated on behalf of Ros Anderson by Conrad Williams of Blake Friedmann and Steve Fisher of APA Agency.

With a unique and compelling voice, THE HIERARCHIES is the diary of Sylv.ie, a synthetic woman designed to please and serve her human ‘Husband’ from the moment she comes to life. She lives in a single room at the top of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife, and concealed from their child. Deeply curious about the world beyond her room, between the Husband’s visits Sylv.ie watches the family through her window, absorbing all she can. She keeps a diary, and through this learns that she cannot rely on her memories, or on what the Husband tells her. When she is taken to the ‘Doll Hospital’ it is not for her benefit, but to be altered. Sylv.ie needs to escape, but what will the world hold for her?

THE HIERARCHIES is a literary and speculative voice-driven novel that asks what it really means to be human. Set in a recognisable near future, and laced with dark, sly humour, THE HIERARCHIES is less about the fear of new technology than humans’ age-old talent for exploitation. From its outsider’s perspective, the novel explores notions of memory, consent, artifice, and ‘femininity’. It asks what it means to be ‘natural’ and celebrates the power of female friendship. Sometimes startling, often moving, and always unforgettable, readers will be gripped by THE HIERARCHIES from its very first page. It’s been described as perfect for fans of Never Let Me Go, I, Westworld, Ex Machina, Black Mirror and The Testaments.     

THE HIERARCHIES was published by Dutton in North America in August 2020, and will be published by Dead Ink and Bolinda in the UK in June 2021.

Praise for THE HIERARCHIES:

“Fascinating…Anderson gracefully executes the process of Sylv.ie’s self-discovery, making her feel real and deeply sympathetic…Readers will be drawn in by Sylv.ie’s emotional story.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“In The Hierarchies, Anderson has constructed a novel that goes beyond common conversations about what we will do, and what will happen to us, if robot women come into being…It’s a shocking and eye-opening debut, one that has me looking at my coffee maker a little differently.” — Bitch Media

‘A quiet triumph…Anderson’s prose — Sylv.ie’s voice — offers a beautiful combination of naivete and wisdom, full of nonhuman puzzlements, off-kilter observations and limpid poetry.” — Paul Di Filippo, Washington Post

 

Rights sold in captivating debut novel THE HIERARCHIES by Ros Anderson

North American rights in THE HIERARCHIES, a propulsive debut novel by author Ros Anderson have been snapped up by Lindsey Rose at Dutton from agent Samuel Hodder. THE HIERARCHIES will be a lead title for Dutton in Fall 2020.

THE HIERARCHIES cover.jpg

With a unique and compelling voice, THE HIERARCHIES is the diary of Sylvi.e, a synthetic woman designed to please and serve her human ‘Husband’ from the moment she comes to life. She lives in a single room at the top of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife, and concealed from their child. Deeply curious about the world beyond her room, between the Husband’s visits Sylv.ie watches the family through her window, absorbing all she can. She keeps a diary, and through this learns that she cannot rely on her memories, or on what the Husband tells her. When she is taken to the ‘Doll Hospital’ it is not for her benefit, but to be altered. Sylv.ie needs to escape, but what will the world hold for her?

THE HIERARCHIES is a literary and speculative voice-driven novel that asks what it really means to be human. Set in a recognisable near future, and laced with dark, sly humour, THE HIERARCHIES is less about the fear of new technology than humans’ age-old talent for exploitation. From its outsider’s perspective, the novel explores notions of memory, consent, artifice, and ‘femininity’. It asks what it means to be ‘natural’ and celebrates the power of female friendship. Sometimes startling, often moving, and always unforgettable, readers will be gripped by THE HIERARCHIES from its very first page.

It is perfect for fans of Never Let Me Go, I, Westworld, Ex Machina, Black Mirror and The Testaments.                                       

Ros Anderson trained as a dancer but now works as a copywriter and design journalist. She has written for publications including The Guardian, The Independent, and Elle Decoration.