SHEILA O’FLANAGAN’S THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY ACHIEVES DOUBLE TOP TEN SUCCESS

In its first full week of sale Sheila O’Flanagan’s latest paperback THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY (Headline, UK and Audio) has made it to Number Five in the Irish Times Bestseller list this weekend, and Number Seven in the Sunday Times paperback charts in the UK. Last year, the hardback of THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY topped the Irish Times Bestseller list, jumping straight to Number One, also in its first week of sale.

THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY follows two women on a life-changing European trip. Deira isn't the kind of woman to steal a car. Or drive to France alone with no plan. But then, Deira didn't expect to be single. Or to suddenly realise that the only way she can get the one thing she wants most is to start breaking every rule she lives by.

Grace has been sent on a journey by her late husband, Ken. She doesn't really want to be on it but she's following his instructions, as always. She can only hope that the trip will help her to forgive him. And then – finally – she'll be able to let him go.

Brought together by unexpected circumstances, Grace and Deira find that it's easier to share secrets with a stranger, especially in the shimmering sunny countryside of Spain and France. But they soon find that there's no escaping the truth, whether you're running away from it or racing towards it.

Sheila O’Flanagan’s brand new novel, THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL, will be published by Headline in May 2021.

Head to Sheila’s Facebook page to watch the wonderful Facebook Lives she’s been hosting.

Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Numerous novels have been immediate and long-lasting No 1s in Ireland and, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers, and she is published in more than 20 languages around the world. Her books have been Number 1 bestsellers in Sweden. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award.

Praise for THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY

‘Life-affirming goodness from O’Flanagan.’ — Irish Examiner

‘If you’re looking for complete escapism, this riveting book with captivating characters and an evocative storyline is perfect.’ — August Books 2020, Candis

‘Love Sheila's writing.’ — Rosin Meany, Irish Independent

‘Sheila was a star at our Rooftop Book Club event, fans will love her fabulous new book.’ — Nina Pottell, Prima

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan

‘'O'Flanagan doesn't skirt the pain of heartache but embraces it along with the humour (and imperfect judgment) that give her characters their aching credibility... Despite some dark themes, the book's overall tone is light and hopeful.' - Irish Independent on HER HUSBAND’S MISTAKE

‘O'Flanagan is one of our best-known, best-loved and most prolific women's fiction authors’ – Irish Independent

‘One of my favourite authors’ – Marian Keyes

‘O'Flanagan's writing is crisp and concise and her plotting deft’ – Belfast Telegraph

'One of our best storytellers' – Irish Mail on Sunday

Visit Sheila’s website.

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THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey Longlist for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

We are thrilled that THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey has been longlisted for the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. According to the judges, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is ‘a unique Caribbean fable that takes the familiar story of a mermaid abruptly thrust onshore and brings it to a new place,’ and ‘reads like the work of a novelist in command of her material and focused on using a mythic “then” to speak to now.’ Also included in the fiction category are These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card and Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud.

The OCM Bocas Prize recognises authors of Caribbean birth or citizenship in three categories: poetry, fiction and literary non-fiction. The $10,000 Prize is considered the leading literary award for Caribbean writers. Past winners include Richard Georges, Kevin Adonis Browne, Jennifer Rahim, Kei Miller and Olive Senior. Monique Roffey’s earlier work ARCHIPELAGO was awarded the Prize in 2013.

The winners in the three genre categories will be announced on 28th March, and the overall winner will be announced on Saturday 24th April, during the annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK and by W F Howes in audio. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and was named Costa Book of the Year 2020. It is on the shortlist for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2021, and Peepal Tree Press and THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH have also been longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses 2021. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets and for film under way. 

A vivid, moving story of love and trust, family and friendship in a Caribbean island community, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is a world brought to unforgettable life by a master storyteller. A fisherman sings to himself in his boat, but attracts an unexpected sea-dweller — Aycayia, a beautiful young woman cursed to live as a mermaid, swimming the ocean for centuries. Theirs becomes a calm, unspoken bond. But when she hears David’s engine again one day and follows the vessel, she finds herself in a fierce battle for her life. Caught by American sports fishermen, she is strung up on the dock as a trophy, but David rescues her, and gently wins her trust as she starts to transform, painfully, back into a woman. But jealous eyes are watching them…

Interwoven with David and Aycayia’s love story is that of Miss Arcadia Rain, a white landowner bringing up her deaf son on a dwindling estate. As her young son connects with fellow outsider Aycayia, an old lover of Arcadia’s returns to the island and she too begins to feel her way into love and trust again.

See more about THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH on the Peepal Tree Press site  and read an interview with Monique Roffey here.

Praise for THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH

‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers.’ — Bernardine Evaristo

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH arrives bearing tragedy and beauty. Monique Roffey has created a new myth for an age of ruined oceans. She continues to be one of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ — A.L. Kennedy

‘Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and compassion, and her work is always a joy to read.’ — Sarah Hall

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is wonderfully written, with both soul and intense drama – it glistens almost, like the mermaid! I love its all-round charisma and also its great compassion for both humanity and the natural world.’ — Diana Evans

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is like a lost myth, found, and made fresh again for our times.’ —  Tessa McWatt, author of Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Photo: Marcus Bastel

About Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey is an award-winning novelist. House of Ashes (Scribner UK) was shortlisted for the Costa and the BOCAS Prize. Archipelago, winner of the OCM BOCAS prize for Caribbean Literature, was published by Scribner in the UK, Viking in the US, and translated into 5 languages. Her second novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Encore Prize, among other accolades, and film/TV rights have been optioned.

Visit Monique’s website

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ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS by Romalyn Ante longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021

We are thrilled that Romalyn Ante’s poetry collection ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS has been longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021.

First awarded in 2017, the Jhalak Prize exists to celebrate writers of colour and accepts entries from British or British-resident writers of colour in any genre. Past winners are Jacob Ross, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Guy Gunaratne and Johny Pitts.

The shortlist will be announced 13th April and the winner will be revealed on 25th May. 

ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS was published by Chatto & Windus in 2020, and was recently also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2021.

The poems in Romalyn Ante's luminous debut build a bridge between two worlds: journeying from the country 'na nagluwal sa 'yo' – that gave birth to you – to a new life in the United Kingdom.

Steeped in the richness of Filipino folklore, and studded with Tagalog, these poems speak of the ache of assimilation and the complexities of belonging, telling the stories of generations of migrants who find exile through employment – through the voices of the mothers who leave and the children who are left behind.

With dazzling formal dexterity and emotional resonance, this expansive debut offers a unique perspective on family, colonialism, homeland and heritage: from the countries we carry with us, to the places we call home.

‘Captivating . . . playful . . . moving, witty and agile . . . These poems have a tended quality, as though Ante's kindness as a nurse extended to them. She is an unforced poet with a lightness of touch and fortitude, not neglecting to see her situation within a wider cultural and historical context’ – Observer Poetry Book of the Month

‘Ante's poems are like embers, pared back to a slow-burning emotional core whose intensity she sustains elegantly throughout the collection’ – Times Literary Supplement

Romalyn Ante grew up in the Philippines until she migrated to the UK when she was 16 years old. She is a West Midland-based poet and co-founding editor of harana poetry. She is also a poetry editor at Ambit magazine. Her debut pamphlet, Rice & Rain (V Press), received the 2018 Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet. Apart from being a writer, she also works full-time as a specialist nurse practitioner. She is working on a memoir.

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Visit Romalyn’s website

Andy Briggs' THE BASTARD KING hits the cover of Variety

We are delighted to see Andy Briggs’ THE BASTARD KING on the cover of the Berlin Film Festival’s edition of Variety Magazine. Andy wrote the narration to this stunning drama-documentary, with Owen Prumm directing and Shibumi Films, Bonne Pioche and Tierra Mater producing.  

THE BASTARD KING chronicles the life of a lion from cub to King - battling against an unimaginable enemy that is ravaging a world where blood is becoming easier to find than water. This unique story challenges traditional storytelling - serving as an allegory for endangered species - and our very own fate. 

It was released in September 2020 in France to huge critical acclaim, and will be released in Britain later this year with David Oyelowo starring.  

Praise for THE BASTARD KING: 

‘Far from the usual rules of animal documentaries, this production is a visual and narrative gem that flirts with fiction, against a background of environmental reality. An extraordinary film.’ – Télé 7 Jours 

‘It upsets the aesthetic codes of the genre… the film unites the violence of the images with the astonishing poetry of the text.’ – Le Figaro TV Magazine 

‘It offers a poetic vision of social relations and environmental problems and tries to raise awareness of the fragility of the wild world.’ – Le Parisien  

‘An original documentary not to be missed… borrowing from the codes of fiction… it tells the story of the wild world differently to raise awareness and reach a wide audience, well beyond fans of animal documentaries.’ – Le Blog TV News 

About Andy Briggs: 

Andy is a screenwriter, graphic novelist, author and conservationist – writing on movie projects such as “JUDGE DREDD” and “FREDDY VS JASON” and “FOREVERMAN” for Paramount Pictures, Spiderman creator Stan Lee and legendary producer Robert Evans. He has worked on TV projects for Syfy, Netflix, ITV and Amazon and is working extensively between the UK, US and China. 

Visit Andy’s website 

Follow Andy on Twitter 

FIRST ITV EPISODE OF BESTSELLING ROY GRACE SERIES TO AIR ON SUNDAY 14th MARCH

The first instalment of brand-new ITV crime drama, GRACE, based on international bestselling author Peter James’ Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, will air on Sunday 14th March at 8pm. The series is written by acclaimed screenwriter and Endeavour creator, Russell Lewis, and co-produced by Second Act Productions, Tall Story Pictures and Vaudeville Productions.

Starring acclaimed actor John Simm as tenacious detective Roy Grace, Richie Campbell as Glenn Branson and Rakie Ayola as Alison Vosper, the two-hour film based on the first book in the series, DEAD SIMPLE, will introduce the audience to Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a hard-working police officer who has dedicated his life to the job, but finds his career under threat. 

Watch the trailer and see the full cast list for GRACE here.

There’s widespread excitement among fans about Roy Grace’s imminent television appearance and GRACE has been included in many ‘2021 One to Watch’ lists, including The Mirror, The Telegraph, The Sunday Express, Radio Times, BBC and The Sunday Times.

Sunday’s programme based on Peter James’s first Roy Grace bestseller DEAD SIMPLE, opens with Grace running enquiries into long forgotten cold cases with little or no prospect of success. He’s obsessed with the disappearance of his beloved wife, Sandy, which haunts his thoughts and his unorthodox police methods have come under scrutiny once again. Grace is walking a career tightrope and risks being moved from the job he loves most.

With so much at stake, his colleague Detective Sergeant Glenn Branson knows he has more to give and asks him for help with a case. When a stag night prank appears to go wrong and the groom goes missing, Branson calls upon Grace to unravel events that led to the mysterious disappearance three days before his wedding to his beautiful fiancé. 

There is no trace of the missing groom, a successful property developer with everything to live for. Is this a case of stag night shenanigans gone badly awry? Or is this something more sinister? With nothing but instinct, a lingering suspicion and his obsessive nature, Grace doggedly pursues the groom’s disappearance and becomes uneasily close to the bride to be…

GRACE was filmed on location in Brighton in 2020 with executive producers Andrew O’Connor and Paul Sandler for Second Act Productions, Patrick Schweitzer for Tall Story Pictures, Michael Vine for Vaudeville Productions, and Russell Lewis and Peter James.  The first film, Dead Simple, is directed by John Alexander with the second film, Looking Good Dead (based on the second book in the series of the same name), directed by Julia Ford, airing on ITV later this year.

The seventeenth instalment in the Roy Grace book series, LEFT YOU DEAD, is published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 13th May 2021. Peter James has also written a Roy Grace novella, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, for The Reading Agency’s QuickReads scheme, published on 27th May 2021. The paperback of the standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU will be out on 24 June 2021.

About Peter James

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. His Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton – translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over twenty million copies – has given him seventeen consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award.

In addition to his career as a novelist, he has produced several films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. He also co-created the hit Channel 4 series Bedsitcom, which was nominated for a Rose d'Or.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014) and DEAD SIMPLE (2015) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews and NOT DEAD ENOUGH opened to full houses and acclaim in 2017. January 2019 saw the opening of the stage tour of THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL, with the sequel THE SECRET OF COLD HILL published in October 2019. The stage play of LOOKING GOOD DEAD will tour the UK later in 2021, starring award-winning actor and EastEnders icon, Adam Woodyatt.

Praise for Peter James

‘Superior plotting and edge-of-the-seat suspense.’ – The Guardian

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

‘A master plotter who cunningly tunes into contemporary concerns. Peter James cannot fail to thrill.’ ­– Daily Mail

‘Peter James creates a world we can smell, touch and feel for his Brighton detective Inspector Roy Grace.’ – The Times

‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

‘With echoes of Thomas Harris, the closer analogue is to Jeffrey Deaver’s clock-racing thrillers. … James delivers the goods.’ — Kirkus Reviews

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ — Independent on Sunday