Chatto & Windus acquires HOW TO HOPE: A Survival Guide, by Kerry Hudson

Becky Hardie, Deputy Publishing Director of Chatto & Windus, bought World English rights in HOW TO HOPE from Juliet Pickering, for publication in 2022 in print, audio and eBook.

We are living in troubled and troubling times and the cumulative effect on our physical and mental well-being is beginning to show. In this new book, prize-winning author and journalist Kerry Hudson sets out to understand why resilience and hope, so often life-saving, can be easily accessed by some but not all of us, and how we can foster these qualities in ourselves and others. Drawing on her own experiences and speaking to a range of experts, including academics and front-line staff, she’ll seek out the best examples of responses to our most common challenges – poverty, housing, work, love and mental health issues – as well as the problems facing the wider world.

From her debut novel TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA to her memoir LOWBORN (‘should be required reading’ – Sunday Times) and her Pool columns, Kerry Hudson’s work has consistently called to our attention the reality and lasting effects of growing up poor in a broken society. At a time of uncertainty and change, HOW TO HOPE will be a must-read guide to the future.

Kerry Hudson said: ‘Hope and resilience have always been central themes in my books and I couldn't be more thrilled that this new book will allow me to focus fully on these tools which have repeatedly proved life-saving for me. It's also a particular gift to get to write this book at this time, when it feels hope is needed now more than ever.

‘This book also marks a decade of working with a team of brilliant women – my editor Becky Hardie, my literary agent Juliet Pickering and the team at Chatto and Windus and Vintage. They have helped me write the books I dreamed of writing and championed me every step of those ten years. I'm honoured and privileged to be working with this dream team once again.’  

Becky Hardie said: ‘This is the perfect next book for Kerry. The response to LOWBORN was overwhelming and she has become a powerful and humane voice in a world that now more than ever needs clear, compassionate and hopeful voices. One of Kerry’s greatest gifts as a writer is getting to the heart of people’s lives and stories, and HOW TO HOPE promises plenty of that, alongside her knack for political and social observation and her own remarkable resilience. We are so proud to be Kerry’s publisher and even discussing the idea of this book gave us all a boost at a very difficult time.’

LOWBORN will be published in paperback on 6th August.

About the author

Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen. Her first novel, TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA, won the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust First Book Award and was shortlisted for an array of prizes including the Guardian First Book Award and the Sky Arts Awards. THIRST, her second novel, won the prestigious prix Femina étranger. LOWBORN is her first work of non-fiction, and her journey has led to a highly successful column for the Pool. She currently lives in Prague.

Praise for Lowborn:

‘It should be required reading… [Hudson is] a fearless writer, an inspiring woman’ — Jackie Annesley, Sunday Times

‘A book that cuts like a knife’ — Jenny Colgan, Spectator

‘If there were any justice in the world, there would be a copy of Hudson's powerful examination of her impoverished upbringing and why it continues to resonate under every politician's Christmas tree’  — Sarah Hughes, i Books of the Year

‘Compelling, fascinating and well-written, undeniably grim but peppered with humour and tenderness... Hudson demonstrates that only by lifting whole communities out of poverty...can we hope to avoid consigning children and young people like her – vulnerable and blameless – to the worst of lives’ — Kit de Waal, Daily Telegraph

‘Lowborn is in part an indictment of a country that claims to still have a functioning welfare state…Most of all, it is a moving portrait of the survival and eventual flourishing of a remarkable spirit’ — John Harris, Guardian

ICON BOOKS ACQUIRES KAT LISTER’S MOVING MEMOIR EXPLORING LOSS

Icon Books have acquired THE ELEMENTS: A MEMOIR OF GRIEF, LOSS AND TRANSFORMATION by journalist Kat Lister. Kiera Jamison, senior commissioning editor at Icon Books, acquired UK, Commonwealth (excl. Canada) and European Rights from Juliet Pickering. The moving memoir which will be published in September 2021, chronicles Lister’s experience of widowhood in her mid-thirties. In addition to detailing Lister’s personal experience the book will also explore grief theories and cultural attitudes towards death and the language we use to process it.

Kat Lister says, ‘I began writing to understand my grief, but I continued writing to reach anyone who’s ever lost anything significant in their lives. THE ELEMENTS is a story of love and pain, but it’s also a book propelled by hope — a wild and radical feeling that can prevail even in the depths of trauma and despair. It was so important for me to find the right home for this memoir and I am so thrilled that I found it at Icon.’

Kiera Jamison says, ‘THE ELEMENTS was unexpectedly enticing given its subject: a visceral, emotional and cerebral examination of love and a broken heart, identity, and the shifting seasons of grief. Kat’s writing transfixed me, and her original approach connected with the Icon Books team instantly as an important contribution to the literature on understanding grief.’

Kat Lister is a writer and editor based in London and has worked in magazine media for over a decade. Beginning her career as a music journalist she spent her early twenties on the news desk at the legendary music newspaper, New Musical Express (NME) — where she met her husband, Pat Long. She went on to specialise in women’s issues, writing widely for publications including Vice, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Refinery29, where she was appointed Contributing Editor. In 2017, she joined the editorial team at women’s website The Pool quickly becoming a freelance features and news editor until its demise in 2019. Since her husband’s death in 2018, she has focused on investigating her experience of grief, writing widely-circulated essays and features for The Sunday Times Magazine, Sunday Times Style and The Pool.

HODDER AND SIMON & SCHUSTER US PRE-EMPT TWO STANDALONE THRILLERS FROM WILL DEAN

Jo Dickinson, Publisher of the Crime & Thriller list at Hodder & Stoughton has pre-empted two standalone thrillers from Will Dean in the UK and Commonwealth, whilst Emily Bestler, Senior Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books, has pre-empted both titles for North America.

Dickinson and Bestler bought rights from Kate Burke at Blake Friedmann; Dean will continue his Tuva Moodyson series published by Oneworld.

The first book, THE LAST THING TO BURN, will be published on 7th January 2021 in the UK and 20th April 2021 in the US, in hardback, eBook and audio. The novel is set in the East Midlands and centres around a couple who live in an isolated farmhouse, far from anyone, where the woman is being kept against her will.

Will Dean said: ‘I am delighted to be working with Jo Dickinson and the team at Hodder. This is a dream come true. The Hodder list is absolutely world class and includes many of my favourite authors. I am very lucky to be joining it.’

Kate Burke said: ‘I’m thrilled with this deal and this exciting, new strand of Will’s publishing.’

Jo Dickinson said: ‘I have been an admirer of Will’s writing for a while and this standalone novel absolutely blew me away. Intensely gripping and beautifully written, I felt I lived each moment with the characters. Will has so many fans already and we look forward to growing his readership with this novel. It will be a focus title for the whole company to launch in 2021 and we have exciting plans already in place.’

Readers can sign up for the chance to receive a limited edition early proof of THE LAST THING TO BURN, and the title is also being promoted with a xx campaign on NetGalley. Will Dean has also released new content on his YouTube channel (Forest Author) to talk further about the background to the thriller. The campaign will continue through the year to publication and beyond.

Early praise for THE LAST THING TO BURN

‘MISERY meets ROOM… a triumph!’ – Marian Keyes

‘A masterpiece.’ – Jane Casey

Praise for Will Dean

‘Challenges the Scandi crime giants on their home soil.’ – Sunday Times

‘A haunting example of stylish storytelling…Dean never lets the tension drop.’ – Daily Mail

‘The tension is unrelenting and I can’t wait for Tuva’s next outing.’ – Val McDermid, Mail On Sunday

‘Dean’s series about deaf Swedish reporter Tuva Moodyson is a must read – and this book is his best yet… BLACK RIVER is eerie, unnerving and buckets of fun.‘ — The Observer, Thriller of the Month

‘The best thriller I’ve read in ages.’ – Marian Keyes

‘A stylish, atmospheric and beautifully written thriller with a fascinating narrator.’ – Crime Review

‘A treat… Total Scandi vibes, a cracking plot and a hugely likeable heroine: the dream’ – Grazia

About the Author

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.

DARK PINES, the first in the Tuva Moodyson series, was published to huge critical acclaim in 2018, was shortlisted for Not the Booker prize, selected for Zoe Ball’s TV Book Club and named as a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year.

Follow Will Dean on Twitter.

Visit Will Dean’s YouTube channel.

Statement on Black Lives Matter

We were shocked and angered by the murder of George Floyd, as with so many acts of violence inflicted on Black communities, and stand firmly with Black Lives Matter against all forms of racism, prejudice and injustice. We recognise the systemic racial injustice in our society and want to play our active part in working against this. Blake Friedmann reaffirms its continuing commitment to celebrating diversity and inclusion in our work practice, so that all voices can be heard.

We believe passionately in the power of shared experiences and stories to broaden the horizons of our humanity and wanted to share some books here that have challenged and inspired us personally, including a few from authors whose work we represent.

We look forward to discussing these books and more with colleagues in the months ahead, as we continue to commit to listening and learning and building an industry that is tolerant, inclusive and anti-racist.

Blake Friedmann regularly supports The Book Trade Charity and their work for those in need in the book trade, including new entrants to the industry. We thank The Book Trade Charity for their accommodation support for our Carole Blake Open Doors candidates, through which we seek to contribute to a more open and inclusive book trade.

We have also recently donated to the following campaigns, charities and organisations:

The 4Front Project

Inclusive Indies Crowdfunder

Refugee Action

Creative Future

Akwaaba

The Book Trade Charity

DOUBLE CRIME WRITING AWARD LONGLISTING FOR PAUL FINCH

We are delighted to announce that Blake Friedmann author Paul Finch has been longlisted for two CWA Dagger Awards. The first, the Dagger In The Library Award, is a prize for a body of work by an established crime writer that has long been popular with borrowers from libraries. It also rewards authors who have supported libraries and their users.

His short story, ‘The New Lad’ (featured in EXIT WOUNDS, an anthology published by Titan Books) has been longlisted for the Short Story Dagger.

The winners will be announced on 22nd October 2020.

Paul Finch’s next stand-alone thriller, ONE EYE OPEN will be published by Orion in August 2020.

Praise for Paul Finch

‘Wonderfully dark…Finch is a born storyteller.’ — Peter James

‘Edge-of-the-seat reading…Heck is formidable – a British Alex Cross.’ – The Sun

‘Avon’s big star…part edge-of-the-seat, part hide-behind-the-sofa! An excellent series.’ – The Bookseller

‘An explosive thriller that will leave you completely hooked on Heck.’ – We Love This Book

‘Lucy Clayburn is a brilliant new character and one that I know readers are going to love. Strangers delves into the darker side of some of the small towns surrounding Manchester and takes the reader on a fast-paced, terrifying journey. The story is wonderfully original and brilliantly written… a terrific book.’ – Rachel Abbott, author of ONLY THE INNOCENT

About Paul Finch
A former cop and journalist, Paul was a writer for British TV crime drama, ‘The Bill’. Paul’s crime debut, STALKERS, was a number one ebook best seller in 2013, followed by the sequel, SACRIFICE, in July 2013 which was the most pre-ordered book in HarperCollins history. In 2016, Paul introduced readers to DC Lucy Clayburn. STRANGERS, the first novel in the series, was an immediate success, reaching the top ten in the Sunday Times Bestseller list.

Winner of the British Fantasy Award 2002 & 2007, and the International Horror Guild Award 2007, he has also written four Doctor Who audio dramas and his Doctor Who novel, HUNTER'S MOON, was published by Woodland Books in 2011. Paul has also written scripts for several horror movies.

Follow Paul Finch on Twitter.

Visit Paul Finch’s website.