Charles Lambert in London to promote his new book

Charles Lambert is in London this week to promote his new book, WITH A ZERO AT ITS HEART, published by The Friday Project last month.

Charles is doing a Waterstones Salon at Waterstones Piccadilly on Monday 9 June at 7pm – the event is free, but you can book your ticket here. On Tuesday 10 June, The Friday Project will host his launch at Belgravia Books, at 6:30pm.

WITH A ZERO AT ITS HEART has already been receiving great reviews, with Anya Lipska calling it “poetic, moving, memorable”, and the Guardian describing it as “carrying considerable emotional clout… poetic, tender and funny”. 

Charles Lambert’s literary thriller, THE VIEW FROM THE TOWER, was published December 2013 by Exhibit A, and launched in Rome earlier this year.

Praise for Charles Lambert:

'Charles Lambert is a seriously good writer, one deserving of encouragement and recognition.' -- Beryl Bainbridge

'Charles Lambert writes as if his life depends on it. He takes risks at every turn.' -- Hannah Tinti author of THE GOOD THIEF

'Lambert is really very good indeed.' -- Scott Pack

Praise for WITH A ZERO AT ITS HEART:

'Pearls or A String of Tiny Masterpieces ... Charles Lambert's stories are luminous miniatures, deceptively easy to read and yet every word, every detail offers a window to a much bigger world. I've seen something different every time I've read these stories - and I've read them many times already.' – Sarah Salway

'Beautifully crafted life in miniatures. Incredibly original.' - A.M. Bakalar

‘In breathtaking sequence after sequence, Charles Lambert demonstrates the unflinching honesty of a narrator unafraid to live, ultimately building WITH A ZERO AT ITS HEART into a stunning portrait of a loss and redeeming love.’ – Niven Govinden 

'A striking conceit... elegantly written and carries considerable emotional clout... poetic, tender and funny' –  Guardian

New novel from Julian Stockwin signed by Allison & Busby

Photo Credit: Allan House

Carole Blake is delighted to announce the sale of THE SILK TREE, a new novel from bestselling historical author of the KYDD series, Julian Stockwin, to Allison & Busby.

Publishing Director Susie Dunlop bought UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Carole Blake at Blake Friedmann, and will publish THE SILK TREE in November 2014.  A departure from Stockwin’s ongoing maritime Kydd series with Hodder, THE SILK TREE tells the dramatic story of how the secret of silk was brought to the west from China, and will be followed by a number of novels dramatising other pivotal historic discoveries.

Dunlop commented: ‘I have long admired Julian’s work, and it’s fantastic to add him to our list which already boasts John Wilcox and David Donachie.  We are looking forward to introducing his dedicated fans to this exciting new novel’.

Julian Stockwin said: ' I am especially pleased to be published by Allison & Busby, a house with an excellent reputation amongst independent publishers and one with such a great enthusiasm for the art of story-telling.'

Carole Blake said: ‘This novel is the first of several that will certainly broaden Julian Stockwin’s readership.  We already have a lot of international interest from publishers around the world.’

For rights information please contact Carole Blake: carole@blakefriedmann.co.uk

New trailer for Elizabeth Chadwick’s THE SUMMER QUEEN!

Elizabeth Chadwick’s THE SUMMER QUEEN has a new trailer, which you can watch on youtube:

THE SUMMER QUEEN is the first in Chadwick’s Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy, taking an entirely fresh approach to this Queen who was a wife to, and mother of, kings. It was published in the UK by Sphere in 2013 in hardback, and the paperback will be released on 19 June 2014.

It is published in the US by Sourcebooks in July, with rights also sold in Germany (Blanvalet), Latvia (Kontinent) and Russia (Azbooka).

Praise for Elizabeth Chadwick:

'The best writer of medieval fiction currently around.' -- Historical Novel Review

'The author blends authentic period details with modern convention for emotional drama.' -- Elizabeth Buchan, Mail on Sunday

'No one does medieval historical fiction quite like Elizabeth Chadwick, and her latest novel, LADY OF THE ENGLISH is just one more example of her enormous talent for bringing the past to life!' -- Passages to the Past

A SPORTFUL MALICE by Michiel Heyns launch at The Book Lounge

The Book Lounge in Cape Town will be hosting the launch for A SPORTFUL MALICE, Michiel Heyn’s latest novel at 6 pm on June 4. Michiel will be in conversation with the Book Lounge's Mervyn Sloman.

A SPORTFUL MALICE is a witty and surprising story of vanity and artistry, Caravaggio and social media, and love and revenge under the Tuscan sun. It’s published in South Africa by Jonathan Ball, who have published all of Michiel’s novels.

There are some strange characters following Michael on his research trip around Tuscany. An old man, who cuts in front of him in the airport queue, and an elegant elderly woman who sat near him on the plane both keep appearing in unexpected places around Florence. But worst of all Cedric, the belligerent London bouncer with no taste for high culture, deliberately checks into the same hotel and insists on crashing at the countryside villa he has rented. Things take a turn for the stranger when Michael arrives at his villa and finds that that the old man from the airport is in fact its owner, and the mysterious woman is his artist partner. And there is a painting of a man uncannily like himself, though they insist it was painted many years ago. Unnerved by this series of coincidences, Michael begins to fear for his life. What’s really going on in this foreign country, and who can he really trust?

Michiel Heyns has received wide acclaim, with his novel LOST GROUND winning the Sunday Times Fiction Award (2012) as well as the Herman Charles Bosman Prize (2012.) He was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize for African Writers for THE TYPEWRITER’S TALE (2006), and for the Booksellers’ Choice Award for THE RELUCTANT PASSENGER (2003) and THE CHILDREN’S DAY (2002). THE CHILDREN’S DAY also was No. 2 on French chain FNAC’s list of 30 best books of 2010 and several of his novels including LOST GROUND and THE TYPEWRITER’S TALE have been published by Editions Philippe Rey in France. He has won the Sol Plaatje Prize and the South African Translators’ Institute Prize for his translation of AGAAT by Marlene Niekerk, and his translation of Eben Venter’s WOLF, WOLF is currently shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Award 2014.

Further events for A SPORTFUL MALICE include:

Sunday 8 June – Book Launch at the V&A Waterfront, in conversation with Gorry Bowes Taylor and Wordsworth Books

Tuesday 10 June – Book launch at Kalk Bay Books

Friday 13 June, 3 pm – In conversation with author of The Spiral House, Claire Robertson

Saturday 14 June, 2 pm – In conversation with Andrew Brown discussing fun and fiction.

Praise for Michiel Heyns:

'LOST GROUND is among the finest books to have been published in the last few years. Well-written, engaging and almost perfectly paced.' -- M Blackman, Sunday Independent

 ‘Michiel Heyns is part magician, part juggler and fine linguist.’ – Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian

Visit Michiel Heyns’ website.

HarperCollins Australia buys magical debut from Sandra Leigh Price

Photo Credit: Joern Harris

Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann is delighted to share news of the sale of Sandra Leigh Price’s debut novel, A TABERNACLE FOR THE BIRDS, to HarperCollins Australia, in a two-book deal for ANZ rights.

It is 1929 when three people find themselves washed up on the steps of Miss Du Maurier’s bohemian boarding house in Sydney.

 Ari is a young Jewish man, a pogrom orphan who lives under the stern rule of his rabbi uncle, while dreaming his father is Houdini. Upon his hand he bears the forbidden mark – a tattoo – and has a secret ambition to be a magician. He finds an injured parrot and is unsure of how to care for it, until he meets Lily, a girl after his own abracadabra heart.  But the wild card in the pack is Billy, who harbours secrets desires of his own…

Catherine Milne, Publisher of Fourth Estate, says ‘I am thrilled to be publishing this book. This is a stunningly original novel which has something of the gorgeous, embroidered whimsy of The Night Circus and the ornate narrative voice of Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale; imagine, if you will, a novel with the heart of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, but told through a dark Tim Burton-esque lens. This is genuinely exciting writing.’

Sandra Leigh Price lives in Sydney. She graduated from the Australian National University, Canberra, with a Double Major in English Literature and Drama, and co-established a small theatre company before moving to Sydney to pursue a career as an actor, then turning to writing. 

A Tabernacle for the Birds will be published by Fourth Estate in April 2015. Please see HarperCollins Australia Press Release for more details.