Canelo acquires historical fiction debut from Sunday Times bestseller Paul Finch

Credit: Eleanor Finch

Canelo will publish three historical fiction titles from Sunday Times bestselling author Paul Finch, writing as P.W. Finch. Commissioning Editor Craig Lye acquired World English Language rights from Kate Burke at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency in a three-book deal.

The novels will be published as a standalone and a duology. The standalone, provisionally titled WOLFHEAD, is set in Northumbria in 1066. When seventeen-year-old Cerdic’s father and brother fall in battle against the invading Earl Tostig and his Viking ally, Harald Hardraada, he briefly becomes Earl of Ripon before the town is seized by the raiders. On the run and fearing for his life, Cerdic must fight to reclaim his birthright.

The duology is set at the end of the 12th century, and follows the adventures of Thurstan Wildblood, a knight who journeys back to England from the Third Crusade, transporting a precious relic at the behest of Richard the Lionheart, and desperately hoping to redeem his soul in the process.

Craig Lye says: ‘I was absolutely delighted to hear that Paul was looking to write historical fiction alongside his superb thrillers. I devoured WOLFHEAD on submission; its pacing is relentless, and Paul’s characterisation and lightly worn historical knowledge are brilliant.’

Paul Finch says: ‘What can I say … I’ve always loved the Middle Ages, especially as a setting for full-on action/adventure fiction. I’m an avid reader of historical action novels, and have been dying to get in there as a writer, to spin some yarns of my own. Canelo have now made that possible.’

Kate Burke says: ‘I'm delighted to have this deal in place with Craig and the Canelo team. This second strand of Paul's publishing is a really exciting one and I'm looking forward to publication next year!’

WOLFHEAD will be published in April 2023 in mass-market paperback and ebook, with the duology to follow in 2024.

About Paul Finch

Paul Finch is an ex-cop and journalist turned author. He is the author of the bestselling Mark Heckenburg and Lucy Clayburn crime series (published by Avon/HarperCollins) as well as standalone thrillers ONE EYE OPEN and NEVER SEEN AGAIN (Orion). Paul lives in Lancashire with his wife and business partner, Cathy.

Praise for Paul Finch

‘Exceptional crime writing. Paul Finch continues to raise the bar.’ – M.W. Craven

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

‘Wonderfully dark and peppered with grim humour. Finch is a born storyteller and writes with the authentic voice of the ex-copper he is.’ – Peter James

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

Visit Paul's blog. 

Follow Paul on Twitter

Headline to publish two more novels from bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan

Credit: Bill Waters

Headline Publishing Group will publish two more novels from multi-million-copy-selling author Sheila O’Flanagan. Executive Publisher Marion Donaldson acquired World English Language rights in THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE and one untitled novel from Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.

Sheila O’ Flanagan is the author of an extraordinary 30 bestselling books - all published by Hachette/Headline - most recently the No. 1 Irish Times bestseller WHAT EDEN DID NEXT and the Sunday Times bestseller THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL. Headline has sold nearly 9 million Sheila O’ Flanagan books, and Sheila’s work is available in over 20 languages. She is published in the US by Hachette’s Mobius division.

THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, slated for publication in April 2023, is Sheila’s first historical novel. Inspired by the true story of Sheila’s grandmother, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE is set in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence, in the years following the First World War. It is a dramatic, powerful and authentic novel about love, rebellion and families torn apart by war, with the young, working-class Winifred at its heart. The second title in the new contract will be a contemporary novel in the tradition of WHAT EDEN DID NEXT, and is set for 2024.

Sheila O’ Flanagan said: ‘I’m very excited to know that I will be publishing two more novels with Headline, my publishers for most of my writing life. It’s a tribute to their thoughtful work with all my books that my career has been longer than I ever imagined. I’m particularly pleased that THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, a deeply personal book inspired by stories my grandmother told me of her own life during turbulent times, will be published next year. I hope readers will enjoy the journey into the past with me.’

Isobel Dixon said: ‘In an already celebratory and bestselling year for Sheila O’Flanagan this new deal is another landmark cause for celebration – the promise of another contemporary novel to delight O’Flanagan fans around the world, but with Sheila also breaking fresh ground with her first historical novel, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, starring a spirited heroine based on her own family history. Sheila is a marvel and the long-term relationship with Marion Donaldson and Headline a rare and exemplary publishing collaboration. We look forward to this further journey.’

Marion Donaldson said: ‘I’m so delighted that we have two new Sheila O’Flanagan novels to look forward to. Earlier this year we hosted a celebration in Dublin of 30 Sheila O’Flanagan bestsellers, something only a handful of authors are in a position to do. It’s an honour as well as a pleasure to publish Sheila’s brilliantly crafted and thought-provoking books, and it’s no surprise that Sheila’s first historical novel is every bit as polished, engaging and memorable as her contemporary novels have been. I can’t wait to bring THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE to the market next year.’

About Sheila O’Flanagan
Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Most of her novels have been immediate and long-lasting No. 1s in Ireland, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers and Kindle Bestsellers, and she is published in more than twenty languages around the world. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award. Headline have acquired two new books from Sheila, a historical novel to be published in 2023 and a contemporary novel out in 2024.  

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan
‘One of my favourite authors’ – Marian Keyes

'Exploring family relationships is what this bestselling author does so well’– Choice

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

‘Brilliantly written and with plot twists popping out like prosecco corks.’ — Woman & Home

‘O’Flanagan weaves an inspiring tale of strength, love and self-discovery’ – Sunday Express

Visit Sheila's website. 

Follow Sheila on Twitter. 

Like Sheila on Facebook. 

RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER to air in the UK, ANZ, US, Canada and Latin America on Acorn TV

Acorn TV have announced that Recipes for Love and Murder, based on the bestselling Tannie Maria series of books by Sally Andrew, will air in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, United States, Canada and Latin America on 5th September 2022.

Recipes for Love and Murder follows a South African advice and food columnist, Tannie Maria, as she finds herself caught up in the death of a correspondent’s husband. Watch the trailer here.

Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes - recipes for love and murder.

Filmed in South Africa and Scotland, the series is a co-production between M-Net, AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, and Both Worlds Pictures, in co-operation with Global Screen. Thierry Cassuto, who founded the International Emmy-nominated Cape Town-based Both Worlds Pictures, produces the series in collaboration with Scotland’s Pirate Productions, with development support provided by Creative Scotland, and Paris-based Paradoxal.

The show was adapted for TV by Karen Jeynes, who is also executive producer, along with Scotland-based writer-director Annie Griffin. The series is directed by Christiaan Olwagen and Karen Jeynes, and stars Maria Doyle Kennedy, whose credits include Outlander and The Tudors, alongside Tony Kgoroge (Invictus), and newcomer Kylie Fisher.

‘A quirky, colorful murder mystery set in the South African outback.’ – Christopher Vourlias, Variety

‘An appetizing blend of mystery and good-natured friendship with a dash of mouth-watering recipes.’ – ET Online

Recipes for Love and Murder is a 10-part series that launches its first two episodes on 5th September 2022. Two episodes premiere weekly until October, all on Acorn TV. 

The full Tannie Maria book series – RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, THE SATANIC MECHANIC, DEATH ON THE LIMPOPO and THE MILK TART MURDERS – is published by Umuzi (Penguin Random House South Africa) in South Africa, and the first two books are available from Canongate in the UK. The Tannie Maria series titles are all bestsellers in South Africa – regularly in the Top 5, with the fourth book, THE MILK TART MURDERS, shooting straight to the top of the combined fiction and non-fiction charts on publication in March 2022.

About Sally Andrew
Sally Andrew divides her time between the Cape Town coast and a nature reserve near the small town of Ladismith in the Klein Karoo, South Africa, the setting of her hugely popular Tannie Maria novels. She lives with her wildlife artist partner, among various wild creatures (including, as she says, ‘a giant eland and a secretive leopard’). Sally has also published a number of non-fiction books on adult and environmental education.

Praise for Sally Andrew
‘If you want a vivid, amusing and immensely enjoyable read about detection (and cooking) in an intriguing part of southern Africa, then this is the book for you. A triumph.’ — Alexander McCall Smith

‘Sally Andrew’s Karoo is where miscreants, moskonfyt and murder are all on the menu. Thank heavens for Tannie Maria who cooks up a storm in the kitchen — but she’s just as good at cracking crime. … A delightful debut.’ — Christopher Hope

‘Chock full of good food and interesting characters.’ — Kerry Greenwood, author of the PHRYNE FISHER and CORINNA CHAPMAN series

‘Utterly delicious, to the very last morsel.’ — Deon Meyer

'With her cosy Tannie Maria mysteries, Sally Andrew adds some zest (and recipes) to a predominantly serious genre. Even though it might gravitate more towards mysteries than hardcore crime, it’s still worth a read for its humour and South Africanisms.' — Dey There, 12 South African Crime Writers to Add to Your Reading List

Visit Sally’s website
Follow Sally on Twitter

CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2022

We are delighted that CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet, published in the UK by Saraband, has been shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2022. This follows hot on the heels of the novel’s longlisting for the Booker Prize and shortlisting for the Ned Kelly Award in Australia, where Text published in October 2021.

Also shortlisted for this year’s Gordon Burn Prize are: About a Son by David Whitehouse, Aftermath by Preti Taneja, Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson and Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi.

Founded in 2012, the Gordon Burn Prize covers both fiction and non-fiction, and seeks to award works that push boundaries, cross genres or otherwise challenge readers’ expectations. It remembers the Newcastle-born writer Gordon Burn, a journalist and author of 10 books including Alma Cogan and Somebody’s Husband, Somebody’s Son. Past winners include A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib, This Is Not Propaganda by Peter Pomerantsey, For the Good Times by David Keenan, The Long Drop by Denise Mina and In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies.

CASE STUDY, described as ‘a novel of mind-bending brilliance’ by Hannah Kent, was first published in the UK by Saraband in October 2021, with the paperback following on 14 April 2022. Bolinda publish the audio edition. CASE STUDY has already been the recipient of numerous accolades, including being chosen as a Book of the Year in 2021 by The Spectator, The Scotsman and Waterstones and being picked as one of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s favourite books of the year too. Rights to CASE STUDY have been sold in ten further territories, with more under offer currently, with North American rights sold to Biblioasis recently – more news on this to follow shortly.

The winner of the Gordon Burn Prize 2022 will be announced at Durham Book Festival on Thursday 13 October 2022. The winner will receive a £5,000 award and a three-month retreat at Gordon Burn’s cottage in the Scottish borders.

CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet

I have decided to write down everything that happens, because I feel, I suppose, I may be putting myself in danger.

London, 1965. An unworldly young woman suspects charismatic psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite of involvement in a death in her family. Determined to find out more, she becomes a client of his under a false identity. But she soon finds herself drawn into a world in which she can no longer be certain of anything.

In CASE STUDY, Graeme Macrae Burnet presents both sides: the woman’s notes and the life of Collins Braithwaite. The result is a dazzling, page-turning and wickedly humorous meditation on the nature of sanity, identity and truth itself, by one of the most inventive novelists writing today.

Praise for CASE STUDY:

 ‘Consistently inventive, caustically funny and surprisingly moving, this is one of the finest novels of the year.’ – Christian House, Financial Times

‘It’s a book that is enormous fun to read, a mystery and a psychological drama wrapped up in one. Buoyed by the evident pleasure Macrae Burnet takes in spinning such a tightly knit tale – the author’s note at the end is magnificent – CASE STUDY is a triumph, and ought to give Saraband another success story.’ – Alex Preston, Guardian, ‘Book of the Day’

‘Fun and funny, sly and serious, a beguiling literary game that manages to say more about the nature of the self than any number of more self-consciously solemn works.’ – David Szalay

‘Brilliant, bamboozling… In addition to CASE STUDY’s ludic pleasures, Burnet captures his characters’ voices so brilliantly that what might have been just an intellectual game feels burstingly alive and engaging.’ – Jake Kerridge, 5-star review, Sunday Telegraph

‘What’s real and what’s not is beside the point in this skilful portrait of a disturbed woman and her encounters with an experimental 1960s psychotherapist . . . Both strands quickly become compelling . . . I was hooked like a fish.’ – Leyla Sanai, The Spectator

‘This is a novel which, like Macrae Burnet’s previous ones, holds the attention, develops an insidious narrative interest, and poses questions about the nature of the self and the authenticity of identity . . . As in his other novels, Macrae Burnet writes with an admirable lucidity, at the same time being able to probe and shed light on the dark places of the mind. Writing in a prose that is spare, deadpan and yet alive, he poses questions about the nature and perception of what we choose to call reality. He is an uncommonly interesting and satisfying novelist.’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

About Graeme Macrae Burnet

Graeme Macrae Burnet was brought up Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and now lives in Glasgow. He has also lived in the Czech Republic, France, Portugal and London. He has appeared at festivals and events in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Russia, Estonia, Macau, Ireland, Germany and France, as well as in the UK. He has also been shortlisted for European and American literary awards.

His first novel, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ADÈLE BEDEAU (Contraband, 2014), received a New Writer’s Award from the Scottish Book Trust and was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. A second Inspector Gorski novel, THE ACCIDENT ON THE A35, was published in 2017, the year he won Author of the Year for the Sunday Herald Culture Awards.

HIS BLOODY PROJECT (Contraband, 2015) won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the LA Times Book Awards. It has been published to great acclaim around the world and film rights have been optioned by Synchronicity.

His latest novel CASE STUDY is longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize in the UK and the Australian Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction 2022.

Follow Graeme on Twitter

Hannah Lowe and Monique Roffey made Royal Society of Literature Fellows

Credit: Marcus Bastel

We are delighted that both Hannah Lowe and Monique Roffey have been elected as fellows for the Royal Society of Literature. This honour comes after an extraordinary year for both writers, with Hannah winning the Costa Book of the Year Award in February for her poetry collection THE KIDS, and Monique’s novel THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH (also a Costa Book of the Year Award winner, winning in 2020) going from strength to strength, selling more than 100,000 UK copies and most recently being published by Knopf in the USA and as part of the Vintage Earth series in the UK. The novel has also been optioned for film by Dorothy Street Pictures.

Hannah and Monique became fellows in July, along with 148 other writers and supporters of literature elected between 2020 and 2022. They signed their names in the historic roll book at an event held at Battersea Arts Centre. Monique used author Jean Rhys’ pen to sign, whilst Hannah used Andrea Levy’s as ‘her writing made me want to write’.

The Royal Society of Literature is the UK’s largest charity for the advancement of literature, and to be nominated as a fellow, a writer must have published or produced two works of outstanding literary merit, and nominations must be made by two fellows or honorary fellows. Other writers made fellows this year include Michaela Coel, Russell T. Davies, Sulaiman Addonia and Lemn Sissay.

Credit: Lealle

Daljit Nagra, chair of the Royal Society of Literature, said: ‘We at the RSL are a community of readers and writers coming together for the advancement of literature, bringing our multiple experiences and perspectives to bear on some of the biggest questions of our times. Fellowship isn’t just an honour bestowed to a writer by their peers; being a fellow gives you the opportunity to show what literature can do to change all our lives. 

‘Our fellows inform the work we do, and our summer party is a joyous celebration of the writers who enrich our nations with the cultural wealth of their generous literature. I am delighted to be chair of an organisation that shows the extraordinary and diverse excellence of writing in the UK, and makes it possible for us to create a society we want to live in.’

Newly elected president of the Royal Society of Literature, Bernardine Evaristo, added: ‘Storytelling is at the heart of who we are as humans – it is how we understand, contextualise, mirror, examine, challenge, entertain and imagine life from multiple experiences and perspectives. We all deserve to be active and equal participants in the production and consumption of literature that is as wide-ranging as ourselves.’

About Hannah Lowe

Hannah Lowe was born in Ilford to an English mother and Jamaican-Chinese father. Her 2021 poetry collection, THE KIDS, won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2021. THE KIDS also won the Costa Poetry Award 2021, was shortlisted for the 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize, was a Poetry Book Society Choice for Autumn 2021 and an Irish Times and Guardian poetry book of the year.

Her first book-length collection, CHICK, won the 2015 Michael Murphy Memorial Prize and was selected for the Poetry Book Society’s Next Generation Poets 2014 promotion. Her second full-length collection, CHAN, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016, followed by a pamphlet, THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Out-Spoken Press) in 2019. Her prose memoir, LONG TIME NO SEE, exploring her relationship with her half-Chinese, half-Jamaican immigrant father, was published by Periscope in 2014.

Visit Hannah’s website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

About Monique Roffey
Monique Roffey is an award-winning novelist who divides her time between Trinidad and London. 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 five 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. THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH won the Costa Prize as well as receiving many other prize nominations and international rights deals.

Visit Monique’s website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Praise for Hannah Lowe
‘Here is a poet with a commanding style; her voice is entirely her own, both rich and laconic.’ – Penelope Shuttle

‘Lowe’s poetry is vibrant and sensual.’ – Chloe Stopa-Hunt, Poetry Review

‘A joy to read.’ – Liz Berry

‘Always, we are in the hands of Lowe's singular, effortless voice, and reminded that all good education should be an education in class, in the legacies and histories of empire and in the self.’ – Andrew McMillan, Poetry Book Society Bulletin

Praise for Monique Roffey
‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers. I never know what to expect and I’m never disappointed.’ – Bernardine Evaristo          

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

‘Monique Roffey has established herself as a fearless writer with her choices of subject and her visceral style.’ – The Guardian

‘One of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ – A.L. Kenn