Aardvark Bureau signs two-book deal with prize-winning South African author Henrietta Rose-Innes

Aardvark Bureau has acquired UK and BC rights (ex Canada and Southern Africa) to the novels NINEVEH and GREEN LION by acclaimed South African author Henrietta Rose-Innes. The deal was brokered by Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.

NINEVEH was shortlisted for South Africa’s most prestigious literary award, the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, in 2012. GREEN LION is currently a finalist for the same award, with the winner due to be announced this weekend.

Both novels convey a strong sense of the Cape Town where Rose-Innes grew up, with Table Mountain looming physically and symbolically large. They explore the tensions between the natural and man-made worlds, and the ways in which we perceive the animal kingdom – beguiling, semi-mystical, endangered and dangerous, familiar and unknowable.

NINEVEH, to be published simultaneously in November 2016 by Aardvark Bureau in the UK and BC and by Unnamed Press in the USA, tells the story of Katya Grubbs, Cape Town’s only ethical pest removal specialist. When called to tackle a mysterious infestation at a new luxury housing development on the fringes of the city, Katya finds herself having to deal with unwelcome intrusions from the past.

In GREEN LION (autumn 2017), Con steps in as the keeper of Sekhmet, the world’s last remaining black-maned lioness, when his school friend is mauled at a breeding zoo. Drawn to the powerful creature, he finds himself testing the boundaries that separate the animal and human worlds, and reliving dark moments of his own history.

Jane Aitken says: In these two masterful novels, Henrietta Rose-Innes’s beautiful prose intrigues, entrances and entertains. We are thrilled to bring Rose-Innes to the UK market.

Henrietta Rose-Innes says: I'm tremendously excited to introduce my books to readers in the UK and elsewhere – and I can't think of a better home for them than Aardvark Bureau, with its fresh and adventurous list of global titles.

Praise for Henrietta Rose-Innes:

‘Henrietta Rose-Innes writes an admirably taut, clean prose. … A welcome addition to the new South African literature.’ – J M Coetzee

‘GREEN LION sees humanity’s longing for the wildness of animals as a desire for what remains most alien in our rational selves ... Poignant and unsentimental, this is an urgent story of quiet, lurking terror.' – Patrick Flanery, author of Absolution

‘A gripping, thrilling allegory of a troubled nation, NINEVEH is executed with wit, panache, precision and something that I can only call wounded love for the country the author calls her home.’ – Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others

‘Rose-Innes’s writing is as entertaining as it is subtle – a rare combination.’ – Steven Amsterdam, author of Things We Didn’t See Coming

‘Henrietta Rose-Innes is a master of the beautifully thought-out metaphor. Her prose is elegant and liquid.’ – Cape Times

‘Rose-Innes is a writer almost in the Virginia Woolf mould – lateral of mind and poetic in her style of narration.’ – SA Sunday Times

‘With its crisp style, infused with caustic humour, NINEVEH places Henrietta Rose-Innes without contest among the most important voices of the new South African literature.’ – Le Monde

‘A compellingly enigmatic story, [2008 Caine Prize winner] POISON’s few pages are also an eloquent vignette of the “new” South Africa.’ – The Guardian

About the author:

Henrietta Rose-Innes is a novelist and short story writer from Cape Town, currently living in the UK while completing a PhD at the University of East Anglia. She won the Caine Prize for African Writing 2008 and the HSBC / PEN Short Story Prize 2007 and was runner-up in the BBC Short Story Award 2012. Her work is included in the Granta Book of the African Short Story (2011) and has been published in a number of languages, including French, Spanish and German.

For press enquiries and interview requests, please contact Sophie Goodfellow or Emma Draude: sophie@edpr.co.uk / emma@edpr.co.uk

For rights enquiries, please contact Isobel Dixon: isobel@blakefriedmann.co.uk

THE DAY WILL COME by Beryl Matthews Published Today in Paperback

Beryl Matthews’ 16th novel, THE DAY WILL COME, is published in paperback today by Allison & Busby. THE DAY WILL COME is already available in hardback and as an eBook. Allison & Busby have also reissued 6 of Beryl’s novels in paperback and Beryl has previously published 12 novels in hardback with Severn House.

Set in London during the 1940s, the war is raging across Europe and twenty-three-year-old Grace is devastated by the loss of her husband at Dunkirk after only a year of marriage. Her secretarial job at a law firm keeps her mind from dwelling on her sorrow but when her boss enlists in the air force Grace is left without work. Alongside her best friend, the two young women join the War Office in a move that will change their lives forever. As Grace throws herself into the war effort, she must find the courage and strength to start her life afresh and find love again.

Beryl Matthews is an accomplished novelist, writing in the genre that Catherine Cookson made her own, but with stories set in London. As a young girl her ambition was to become a professional singer but lack of funds drove her into an office, where she worked her way up from tea-girl to credit controller. After she retired, she began to pursue her dream of becoming a published author.

BLUE MARK BOOKS TO PUBLISH CLASSIC WWII NOVEL BITTER EDEN

Toby Fountaine of Blue Mark Books has acquired UK and British Commonwealth rights (excluding Southern Africa) to a haunting autobiographical novel which Elizabeth Gilbert describes as ‘a jewel of a tale’. BITTER EDEN is based on the late Tatamkhulu Afrika’s experiences as a WWII prisoner of war after being captured in North Africa after the fall of Tobruk and its quiet power has touched many readers – from its first publication by Arcadia in 2002, shortly before the death of its octogenarian author, through its US debut and European translations, most recently Presses de la Cite’s French edition last year.

As Andre Aciman wrote: ‘This book will haunt you, and stay with you, and won’t ever let go.’ US publisher Stephen Morrison returned to the book time and time again over a decade before being in a position to acquire it for Picador US, where it was published to many accolades in 2014. He wrote an eloquent essay on his journey with the book for Publisher’s Weekly, which also forms part of the introduction to the American edition. The San Francisco Chronicle Review praised the ‘gorgeously written’ BITTER EDEN as ‘a small masterpiece’ and The New York Times described it as ‘a gripping study of the dehumanising effects of war and an empathetic portrait of illicit love’.

This frank and beautifully written novel deals with three men who see themselves as ‘straight’, but must negotiate the emotions that are brought to the surface by the physical closeness of survival in the male-only prison camps. The book reveals the complex rituals of camp life and the diversion of the POW theatre (in which, in real life, the author played Lady Macbeth and frequently shared a stage with fellow prisoner Denholm Elliot). It lays bare the terrible cruelties, but also the strange loyalties and deep bonds the men know will never be replicated on civvie street. BITTER EDEN is a tender, bitter, powerful book, of lives inexorably changed, of a war whose ending does not bring peace. More than simply ‘war’ literature, or ‘gay’ literature, this is a deeply moving, human work about the meaning of love, what it is to be a man.

Blue Mark Books will publish in hardback in November 2016 and publisher Toby Fountaine says: ‘The unequalled bonds formed between fighting men has been explored in great literature before; but this story, about how that bond becomes a deeper love, has not. It is hauntingly written and unforgettable.’

Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann remembers how the near-blind writer’s handwritten letter arrived by post, along with the photocopy of a manuscript typed by a friend: ‘I knew Tatamkhulu Afrika’s name then as a poet and anti-apartheid activist, but nothing could prepare me for the enduring impact of this slow-simmering story. It is one of the great pleasures of championing an author to see others fall in love with a book too and BITTER EDEN is a novel so many people become absolutely passionate about. I am glad that Toby is one of that discerning number.’

THE MISSING WIFE Published Today by Headline

Bestselling women’s fiction novelist Sheila O’ Flanagan’s 25th title with Headline, THE MISSING WIFE is published today in hardback.

When Imogen Naughton vanishes, everyone who knows her is shocked. She has a perfect marriage. Her handsome husband treats her like a princess. She's always said how lucky she is. So why has she left? And how will she survive without Vince? What goes on behind closed doors is often a surprise, and Imogen surprises herself by taking the leap she knows she must. But as she begins her journey to find the woman she once was, Imogen's past is right behind her...Will it catch up with her? And will she be ready to face it if it does?

Sheila is an ex-bond dealer and financial journalist whose novels have all been immediate No. 1 Irish bestsellers. Her books have been described as ‘as necessary to women as chocolate, and just as addictive!’ Her last three novels have sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies in their British editions. She was the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year award in 2003. With each publication, she breaks her record of weeks at No. 1. Her first book for teenagers, THE CRYSTAL RUN, was published last month by Hodder Children’s. She is currently writing one more adult book for Headline and a follow up to THE CRYSTAL RUN for Hodder Children’s.

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan

‘Sheila O’Flanagan never, ever disappoints.’ – Nancy Barnes, Gobshites and Eeijts

‘One of the most popular women’s fiction writers, very much in the same vein as Maeve Binchy, writing about families relationships and finding love.’ – Driffield Leader

‘O’Flanagan users her considerable skill as a writer to keep the reader absorbed throughout. Expect another huge success.’ – Irish News (Belfast)

THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL by Peter James published in paperback tomorrow by Macmillan

Peter James’ standalone ghost story THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL is published in paperback tomorrow by Macmillan. Originally published in hardback last October, it went straight to number 9 on the bestseller chart in the first half-week on sale. 

Moving from the heart of the city of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for the Harcourts. But when they view Cold Hill House they are filled with excitement.  Within days of moving in, it soon becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents in the house. At first it is a friend of their daughter Jade, talking to her on Facetime, who sees a spectral woman standing behind her. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. Two weeks after moving in, Caro, out in the garden, is startled to see faces staring out of an upstairs window of the house. The window of a room which holds the secret to the house's dark history... a room which does not appear to exist...

Peter James’ 12th Roy Grace novel LOVE YOU DEAD was published last month and went straight to Number 1 in the bestseller charts, where it remained for several weeks. His 30 year old novel, BILLIONAIRE, was republished in January 2016 and went straight into the chart at number 8.

Peter James has been twice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and has won many literary awards: as popular internationally as in the UK, he is published in more than 3 dozen languages. Last year he was voted by WH Smith readers as The Best Crime Author Of All Time.  He is currently writing three more Roy Grace novels and two standalones for Macmillan.

 A non fiction book, DEATH COMES KNOCKING: POLICING ROY GRACE’S BRIGHTON by Graham Bartlett and Peter James will be published in July. Graham Bartlett was a Police Commander in the city once described as Britain's 'crime capital'. Together with Peter James, he has written a gripping account of the city's most challenging cases, taking the reader from crime scenes and incident rooms to the morgue, and introducing some of the real-life cases that  inspired Peter James’ Roy Grace novels.

Praise for Peter James:

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' – Karin Slaughter

'Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off.' – Washington Post

 ‘Sinister and riveting… Peter James is one of the best British crime writers, and therefore one of the best in the world.’ – Lee Child

Find out more about Peter James at Blake Friedmann's, Pan Macmillan's and Peter’s websites and follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.