THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH BY MONIQUE ROFFEY LONGLISTED FOR THE ONDAATJE PRIZE

We are thrilled that Monique’s Roffey’s THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH has been longlisted for the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize. Also longlisted are: James Boyce, Michael Crawley, Catherine Fletcher, Michelle Gallen, Ruth Gilligan, Louise Hare, Adam Mars-Jones, Catherine O’Donoghue, Nina Mingya Powles, James Rebanks, Gareth E. Rees and Francesca Wade.  

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Folio Prize and won both the Costa Novel Award and the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020. It has also been shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses and longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets under way and a film deal being concluded.

The RSL Ondaatje Prize, with a value of £10,000, is awarded to the author of a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which evokes the spirit of a place. It is awarded by The Royal Society of Literature, which aims to honour and support emerging and established writers while creating a bridge between authors and audiences to engage as many people as possible with the breadth of UK literature. The shortlist of the 2021 Ondaatje Prize will be announced on 27th April and the winner will be announced on 11th May. Past winners include Roger Robinson with A Portable Paradise, Aida Edemariam with The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History, Pascale Petite with Mama Amazonica and Francis Spufford with Golden Hill. 

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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THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY by Annie Robertson acquired by Welbeck

We are thrilled that Welbeck will publish THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY by Annie Robertson. Jon Elek acquired UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada) rights in a pre-empt from Juliet Pickering, in a three-book deal. Welbeck will publish THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY on 8th July 2021, followed by CHRISTMAS AT LOBSTER BAY in October 2021. The audio editions will be published by Ulverscroft.

When Emma sees The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay for sale online, she knows it is exactly the peaceful haven and fresh start she needs to recover from a recent trauma. Yet the moment she picks up the keys, Emma's dream of owning a successful guesthouse begins to unravel...

Emma has one month to get the handsome guesthouse with stunning sea views in order before her first guests arrive at the beginning of June, a task made all the harder by the discovery that the previous owner has included her elderly and enormous dog in the sale. And then there's the next-door neighbour, Aidan, the local boat-builder – self-assured and unwelcoming – who Emma must turn to for help in a crisis. As Emma and Aidan work together to get the guesthouse ready, they grow closer, but then Aidan is called away and Emma has to carry on, alone.

Over the course of the summer, Emma must navigate unforeseen dilemmas and new friendships, and keep her business afloat. But as she falls in love with Lobster Bay, is she also falling for Aidan?

THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY is a gorgeous, summery read, full of fun, romance, and the perfect escape.

Jon Elek says: ‘Annie Robertson has written an incredible escapist romance that moves the genre forward - she writes with wisdom and conviction about women-in-crisis and the ups and downs of the geographical cure. The Lobster Bay trilogy is a terrific new addition to the genre.’

Annie Robertson says: ‘Signing a three-book deal with Welbeck during the pandemic was above and beyond my wildest expectations. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to work with this new, ambitious and innovative team, and to have the chance to invite readers into the Scottish idyll that is Lobster Bay.’

Juliet Pickering says: ‘I loved Emma’s story of pursuing a dream and starting over in THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY, and Annie’s voice is fresh, warm and funny. I can’t wait for readers to visit this friendly, quirky seaside town, and fall in love along with Emma and Aidan.’

Praise for THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY

‘This is such an involving and heart-warming book that it made me wish I could book into Emma’s guesthouse myself!’ – Sue Moorcroft

About Annie Robertson

Annie Robertson trained in London as a classical musician, then worked as an assistant for an Oscar winner, an acclaimed artist, a PR mogul and a Beatle. After several years of running errands for the rich and famous, she went to medical school where, hiding novels in anatomy textbooks, she discovered her true passion for writing, and went on to complete a Creative Writing MA with distinction. She is the author of MY MAMMA MIA SUMMER, IF HARRY MET SALLY AGAIN, and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FESTIVAL, published by Orion.

Pre-order THE GUESTHOUSE AT LOBSTER BAY

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

We are thrilled that Romalyn Ante’s poetry collection ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS has been shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021. Also shortlisted are Inferno by Catherine Cho, My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long, The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Are We Home Yet by Katy Massey, and Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez.

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 winner will be revealed on 25th May. 

ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS was published by Chatto & Windus in 2020. It was also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize earlier this year.  

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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THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2021

We are thrilled that Monique Roffey’s THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH has been longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2021. Delia Jarrett-Macauley, the Chair of Judges, commented on the longlist: ‘Ranging from the quietly political to overt explorations of issues such as war, race and climate change, these twelve novels demonstrate that politics is not just a question of the intellect, but of the imagination too.’ The other authors on the longlist are Xiaolu Guo, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Colum McCann, Rumaan Alam, Curtis Sittenfeld, Douglas Stuart, Ali Smith, Sarah Moss, Akwaeke Emezi, Brit Bennett and Jenny Offill.  

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Folio Prize and won both the Costa Novel Award and the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020. It has also been shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses and longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets under way and a film deal being concluded.

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction is one of four prizes awarded by the Orwell Foundation, and rewards outstanding novels and collections of short stories first published in the UK that illuminate major social and political themes, present or past, through the art of narrative. The fiction prize was first awarded in June 2019, when the Orwell Book Prize was replaced with separate prizes for fiction and non-fiction books. The past winners are Colson Whitehead, for The Nickel Boys, and Anna Burns, for Milkman. The shortlists will be announced at the end of May and the winners of each of the £3,000 prizes will be announced around George Orwell’s birthday on 25th June.

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

About Monique Roffey

Photo: Marcus Bastel

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

Follow Monique on Twitter

FIND THEM DEAD BY PETER JAMES SHORTLISTED FOR CRIMEFEST AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

We are delighted that the sixteenth instalment in the international bestselling Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series by Peter James, FIND THEM DEAD, has been shortlisted for the CrimeFest Audible Sounds of Crime Award as chosen by Audible listeners.

Now in their 14th year, the CrimeFest awards will take place virtually in 2021, and winners will be announced in the first week of June.

FIND THEM DEAD was first published by Pan Macmillan in 2020, soaring straight to Number One in the Sunday Times bestseller lists, where it stayed for 7 consecutive weeks. The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Daniel Weyman, the actor beloved by audio listeners as the voice of Roy Grace. He has read all of the series books since 2013’s DEAD MAN’S TIME and won Narrator of the Year at the Audio Production Awards in 2016. You can read an interview with Daniel Weyman about recording the Peter James titles here.

Ending his secondment to London’s Met Police, Roy Grace gets a tip-off about a county lines drugs mastermind operating out of Brighton. On his first day back in his old job in Sussex, he is called to a seemingly senseless murder.

Separately, Meg Magellan finally has her life back together, five years after the car crash that killed her husband and their son. Her daughter, Laura, now eighteen, is on her gap year travelling in South America with a friend, and Meg misses her badly. Laura is all she has in the world.

In between jobs, Meg receives a summons for jury service. She’s excited – it might be interesting and will help distract her from constantly worrying about Laura. But when she is selected for the trial of a major Brighton drugs overlord, everything changes.

Gradually, Grace’s investigation draws him increasingly into the sinister sphere of influence of the drug dealer on trial. A man utterly ruthless and evil, prepared to order the death of anyone it takes to enable him to walk free.

Just a few days into jury service, Meg arrives home to find a photograph of Laura, in Ecuador, lying on her kitchen table. Then her phone rings.

A sinister, threatening stranger is on the line. He tells her that if she ever wants to see Laura alive again, it is very simple. At the end of the trial, all she has to do is make sure the jury says just two words.... Not guilty.

Last month saw the much-anticipated release of ITV’s GRACE, based on the first book in the Roy Grace series, DEAD SIMPLE. The series launched in a prime-time Sunday slot to widespread praise from the critics and 7.3 million strong viewing figures. The show will be streamed on Britbox North America this month for fans in the US and Canada.

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

Praise for Peter James:

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

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

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

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

About the Author:

Peter James is an international bestselling crime and thriller writer. In 2015 WHSmith 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.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015), NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017) and THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019) have played to packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. The newest Roy Grace theatre production, LOOKING GOOD DEAD, will tour in 2021.

 Visit Peter’s website

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