Elizabeth Chadwick’s Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy draws to a close as THE AUTUMN THRONE is published in paperback today

THE AUTUMN THRONE is published in paperback today by Sphere, concluding the glorious retelling of the life of one the most powerful women in medieval Europe, Eleanor of Aquitaine, by one of the most-loved historical writers today, New York Times bestseller Elizabeth Chadwick.

Chadwick’s ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE trilogy opened with THE SUMMER QUEEN and was followed by THE WINTER CROWN, and was described by Choice Magazine as ‘engrossingly written and well researched.’ The beloved trilogy is being published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Russia, with more languages expected.

England, 1176. Imprisoned by her husband, King Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England, refuses to let her powerful husband bully her into submission, even as he forces her away from her children and her birthright.

Freed only by Henry's death, Eleanor becomes dowager Queen of England. But the competition for land and power that Henry stirred up among his sons has intensified to a dangerous rivalry.

Eleanor needs every ounce of courage and fortitude as she crosses the Alps on horseback in winter to bring Richard his bride, and travels medieval Europe to ransom her beloved son. But even her indomitable spirit will be tested to its limits as she attempts to keep the peace between her warring sons, and find places in the centres of power for her daughters.

Praise for THE AUTUMN THRONE

‘Fluid and entertaining… a novel packed with incident, interest and emotional depth. The medieval world she has created is rounded and convincing, the fruit of years of research… Highly recommended.’ – Historical Novel Society

‘THE AUTUMN THRONE completes Elizabeth Chadwick’s superb and, I would argue, definitive trilogy on the life of one of the most (if not THE most) astonishing female figures in medieval history. I’ve always said that reading an Elizabeth Chadwick novel is not like reading history at all, it’s experiencing it… I feel that I’ve been allowed into Eleanor’s thoughts and given a chance to see and know her as I imagine she may well have been. Eleanor was a truly remarkable woman, her story is the stuff of legend, and Elizabeth Chadwick has done her justice.’ – For Winter Nights

Praise for Elizabeth Chadwick and the ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE series

‘An author who makes history come gloriously alive.’ – The Times

‘Picking up an Elizabeth Chadwick novel, you know you are in for a sumptuous ride. Beautifully strong characters and a real feel for time and place.’ – The Daily Telegraph

‘A magnificent woman’s story told by a brilliant historical novelist; realistic, emotional, vibrant, exciting and unputdownable.’ – RT Book Reviews, July Top Pick

Read more about Elizabeth Chadwick on the Blake Friedmann website or her website.

Follow Elizabeth on Twitter and Facebook.

DEON MEYER’S THIRTEEN HOURS SHORTLISTED FOR THE ICEPICK AWARD

Deon Meyer and his Icelandic translator Dísa Bachmann have been shortlisted for the Icepick Award 2017 for THIRTEEN HOURS (Hodder & Stoughton, 2011).

The Icepick is the Iceland Noir Award for best translated crime fiction in Iceland. The winner will be announced during the Iceland Noir Festival which is held from 14-18 November 2017. Other authors on the shortlist include Ann Cleeves and Jo Nesbø.

THIRTEEN HOURS is part of Deon Meyer’s the Benny Griessel series; the latest of which is ICARUS (Hodder and Stoughton, 2015). Benny Griessel is back, however, in THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE CLOAK, published this summer in Holland as part of their Crime and Thriller Week, with South African and German publications soon to follow. THIRTEEN HOURS is shortlisted for the Icepick Award because of its recent release in Iceland, where SEVEN DAYS will be following soon.

Meyer is the winner of the 2011 Boeke Prize in South Africa and shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger for Best Translated Crime Fiction. Meyer’s books have been sold in 23 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune's '10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004'.

Deon Meyer’s stunning standalone post-apocalyptic thriller, FEVER was published in the UK and Holland earlier this year, and this month in the US and Canada by Grove Atlantic and House of Anansi respectively.  

DEON MEYER’S FEVER HITS NORTH AMERICAN SHORES

’Reminiscent of THE STAND and THE PASSAGE. Great stuff.’ – Stephen King

FEVER, the number one bestseller by Deon Meyer, is published today in in the USA by Grove Atlantic, hot on the heels of the Canadian publication by House of Anansi. Translated into English by K.L. Seegers, FEVER shot to the top of the South African charts after its release in English, (Hodder and Jonathan Ball, 2017), having already been No. 1 in its Afrikaans edition, KOORS (Tafelberg, 2016). The Dutch edition (A.W. Bruna, 2017) also leaped into the Top 20 in the Netherlands, where Deon was selected as the national Crime and Thriller Week’s Author and commissioned to write a special novella – DE VROUW IN DE BLAUWE MANTEL (THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE CLOAK), which features his beloved police detective Benny Griessel. THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE CLOAK, will be published later this year by NB Publishers in South Africa, and Aufbau in Germany.

Stephen King has described FEVER as ‘great stuff’, reminiscent of Justin Cronin’s THE PASSAGE and his own novel THE STAND. FEVER is an Amazon Sci-Fi Book of the Month for September and was described as ‘a remarkable literary achievement’ in Booklist’s Starred Review. It has also drawn praise from other writers:

‘FEVER is one of the best books of the year. Deon Meyer is a masterful writer and has created a stunning epic that brims with emotion. The mystery, thrills, and action kept me riveted to every page. Highly recommended.’ — Adam Hamdy, author of Pendulum

‘FEVER bears comparison with landmarks in the genre such as THE STAND ...The novel explores humanity at its best and worst; the crushing loss of civilisation with everything that means for the structure of society...This great book asks us to reflect on our own hidden natures - how would we react if the world we knew came to an end tomorrow?’ — Vaseem Khan, author of The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

Deon Meyer’s work has been published in over 27 countries. In 2016, he was the second bestselling author in South Africa in any language, after J.K. Rowling. His novel THIRTEEN HOURS has just been shortlisted for the Icepick Award,  to be awarded at the Iceland Noir Festival in November 2017. He also won the Deutsche Krimi Preis 2009 for BLOOD SAFARI, Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière 2003 for DEAD BEFORE DYING and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique 2004 for DEAD AT DAYBREAK, which was adapted for an Afrikaans M-Net TV series (SA). THIRTEEN HOURS was the winner of the Barry Award in the Best Thriller category 2011 and was shortlisted for the Macavity Best Mystery Novel Award. He has been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger three times and many of his books have been optioned for film. DEAD BEFORE DYING was filmed for a 6-part TV series, titled CAPE TOWN, featuring his character Mat Joubert.

Praise for Deon Meyer:
‘Deon Meyer is not just South Africa’s greatest crime writer, he’s up there with the best in the world.’ — Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.’ — Tess Gerritsen

'Deon Meyer is one of the giants of crime fiction.' — El Mundo

‘Deon Meyer is a top notch plotter and has created one of the best ensemble (and multi-racial) casts of any modern police procedural series.’ — Shots magazine

‘Crime fiction with real texture and intelligence.’ — Independent

Visit Deon’s website, or read more on the Blake Friedmann website.

Follow Deon on Twitter @MeyerDeon.

PART-TIME BOOK DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT AT BLAKE FRIEDMANN

Blake Friedmann is looking for an energetic, creative and highly motivated Book Department Assistant to work on a 6-month (potentially renewable) contract, for three days a week, beginning from the week of 16 October 2017. This role will support the overall running of the Book Department, in addition to some reception duties and administrative tasks for the Finance, Contracts and Foreign Rights Departments.

The ideal candidate will be highly organised, have an ability to pick up new systems quickly, and will feel confident handling a varied, high-volume workload, including contractual processing and data entering. They will also have a passion for books, excellent communication skills, an understanding of digital and social media, and a sharp eye for detail. Familiarity with the Bradbury Phillips system would be an advantage.

This role offers an ideal opportunity to an individual with administrative skills and some initial publishing or internship experience to discover more about publishing, receive further training and develop their knowledge and contacts within the industry, while working with some flexibility in a friendly, creative environment.

To apply: please send your cover letter and CV to Melis Dagoglu at melis@blakefriedmann.co.uk.

Closing date for applications: Monday 11 September 2017.

Christopher Nicholson Shortlisted for Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature

Christopher Nicholson’s AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS (September Publishing, 2017) has been Shortlisted for the 2017 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.

The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature was established to promote literature by providing an annual award to authors of literary works, the central theme of which is concerned with the mountain environment. The prize of £3,000 commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker and is given to the author or co-authors of an original work, which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.

The winner will be announced on November 17th at the Kendal Mountain Festival. Other books on the shortlist include Tommy Caldwell’s THE PUSH and Ed Douglas’ THE MAGICIAN’S GLASS.

As the summer draws to a close, a few snowbeds - some as big as icebergs - survive in the Scottish Highlands. Christopher Nicholson's AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS is both a celebration of these great, icy relics and an intensely personal meditation on their significance. A book to delight all those interested in mountains and snow, full of vivid description and anecdote, it explores the meanings of nature, beauty and mortality in the twenty-first century.

Christopher Nichsolson is the author of three novels, including THE ELEPHANT KEEPER (Fourth Estate, 2009), shortlisted for the Costa Prize in 2009, and the Encore Award in 2011, and dramatized for BBC Radio 4. His most recent novel, WINTER, about the later life of Thomas Hardy, was published in 2014 by Fourth Estate and also adapted for BBC Radio as TESS IN WINTER.

Praise for AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS:

‘A beautiful book about love and loss, fragility and chance, the wide world and the near world . . . full of intense light and colour, extraordinary glimpses, moving insights and subtle humour.' – Richard Kerridge, author of COLD BLOOD

'This ravishingly lovely book is about thought-snow, summer snow, flight, falling, stillness, memory, loss, mountains, Time, death, survival and everything in between. It is an intense scrutiny of minute worlds, a roaming gaze into the vastness of space, intimate, introspective and questioning.' – Keggie Carew, author of DADLAND

‘It’s a long while since I read a book that made me laugh and cry within just a few pages … A wrong-footing marvel of a book … touching both death’s void, and love, and the beauty of the natural world at one and the same time and in a way that is all the more powerful for its restraint.’ – Books from Scotland

Praise for WINTER:

'Fine, vivid moments... a strong addition to [Nicholson's] ‎... distinguished oeuvre.' – Thomas Mallon, The New York Times Book Review

'Understated, tender... an entrancing piece of fiction.' – The New Yorker 

'A wonderful novel, moving, gripping and illuminating. Keeping closely to the known facts about the triangular relationship between the elderly Thomas Hardy, his second wife Florence, and the beautiful young butcher's wife and amateur actress, Gertrude, Nicholson has used the resources of fiction to represent their emotional lives with intensity and depth.' – David Lodge 

‘A superb novel... Beautifully written, very moving.’ – John Boyne, author of THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS