Allen & Unwin acquire ‘touching and urgent and vivid’ debut by Anna-Marie Crowhurst
Allen & Unwin have acquired The Illumination of Ursula Flight, the brilliant debut novel by Emerald Street Weekend Editor Anna-Marie Crowhurst, the first in a two-book deal.
The novel, a charming, droll (and just a little bit bawdy) picaresque tale of one woman’s coming of age both on and off the stage in seventeenth-century England, will be published in hardback in May 2018.
Senior Editor Sam Brown, who acquired the debut said:
‘Oh, how I love this novel! Funny, whip smart and so full of passion, Ursula instantly captured my heart and imagination and I’m thrilled to be working with Anna-Marie to share her with the world. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this wonderfully sparky character and her story in the months to come. This is a major acquisition for the Allen & Unwin list, signalling a strong move towards upmarket historical fiction. Our recent announcement about the new Minette Walters novel was the first step down this path. The Illumination of Ursula Flight will be a key publication for the first half of 2018 and Anna-Marie’s second book will follow in 2019.’
Anna-Marie Crowhurst said:
‘I am fascinated by the giddy, heady, sexy Restoration era and its effect on the creative arts – especially for women, who were newly allowed to act on the English stage. I wanted to explore the experience of a woman of the time, battling the same things we all do: scoundrels, bounders, bad luck and heartbreak. This is a tale of girlhood, interrupted and triumph over the adversities of an age.’
The Illumination of Ursula Flight was written as part of the Bath Spa MA in Creative Writing and Anna-Marie’s supervisor Tessa Hadley described it as: ‘a spirited funny romp and yet it feels much more than that too – touching and urgent and vivid. It’s fluent, accomplished, polished, funny and charming.’
Anna-Marie Crowhurst has worked as a freelance fashion and culture journalist for more than 15 years, contributing to The Times, The Guardian, Time Out, Newsweek, Stylist and Emerald Street, for whom she currently covers books, entertainment and lifestyle, as well as writing a weekly column going out to 150,000 like-minded women every Sunday. The Illumination of Ursula Flight is her debut novel. She lives in London.
Atlantic acquires ‘unforgettable’ prize-winning Canadian novel The Break
Atlantic Books and Allen & Unwin have jointly acquired UK, Australia and New Zealand rights to The Break by Katherena Vermette. Since its Canadian publication in 2016 it has become an international bestseller and has won and been shortlisted for several major Canadian literary prizes.
Margaret Atwood has become Vermette’s biggest supporter, tweeting and promoting on her behalf. She has said that: ‘In The Break, the characters may be Métis, but the motivations and emotions are surely universal. This is an accomplished writer who will go far.’
Stella, a young Métis mother, lives with her family by the Break, an isolated strip of land on the edge of their small Canadian town. Glancing out of her window one winter’s evening Stella spots someone in trouble; horrified, she calls the police. But when they arrive, no one is there, scuff marks in the compacted snow the only sign anything may have happened. What follows is a heart-breaking and powerful tale of a community in crisis as the people connected to the victim, a young girl on the edge of a precipice, begin to lay bare their stories leading up to that fateful night.
Will Atkinson, Publisher at Atlantic Books says:
‘Katherena’s voice is beautiful, powerful, and her story is utterly unforgettable; a truly talented writer, we are delighted to have the opportunity to publish The Break in conjunction with our colleagues at Allen & Unwin.’
Jane Palfreyman, Publisher at Allen & Unwin says:
‘We’re thrilled to be publishing this extraordinary novel that takes us into the heart of a First Nations community that is reeling from the impact of sexual violence. Unflinching and deeply compassionate, this story of love and resilience will never let you go.’
Prizes and accolades won by The Break include: A Canada Reads 2017 finalist; 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist; 2016 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Finalist; National Post 99 Best Books of the Year; CBC Best Canadian Debut Novels 2016; Globe and Mail Best 100 Books of 2016; Quill & Quire Book of the Year; Kobo Best Books of the Year; Walrus Magazine The Best Books of 2016; 49th Shelf Books of the Year.
Mark Nicholas and Robert Wainwright triumph at the Cross Sports Book Awards 2017
Allen & Unwin sports titles A Beautiful Game (Mark Nicholas) and The Maverick Mountaineer (Robert Wainwright) were both announced as the winners in their categories at last night’s Cross Sports Book Awards 2017.
Mark Nicholas, one of cricket’s finest broadcasters won The Cricket Book of the Year in a category judged by Sky Sports Bob Willis, Paul Allot and Isa Guha for his memoir A Beautiful Game: My love affair with Cricket.
The Times Biography of the Year was handed to acclaimed biographer Robert Wainwright accounting the story of The Maverick Mountaineer: The Remarkable Life of George Ingle Finch: Climber, Scientist, Inventor – George Finch one of the twentieth century’s most eccentric anti-heroes.
Each of the nine winning titles is now put to an online public vote to determine the overall Cross Sports Book of the Year in association with The Times. The public vote is open until midnight on 9th June with the winner announced shortly after (click here to vote).
Minette Walters moves to Allen & Unwin UK to publish first full novel in more than a decade
We are thrilled to announce that Allen & Unwin UK have acquired the magnificent new novel The Last Hours by Minette Walters, which will publish in November 2017.
Minette has been a master of crime fiction for nearly two decades. Now this extraordinary writer turns her talents in a bold new direction; a sweeping, utterly gripping historical novel set during the time of the Black Death in Dorset.
‘I’m thrilled to be joining Allen & Unwin UK, having loved the long association I’ve had with Allen & Unwin in Australia. For a publisher to embrace and support an author’s change of direction – in my case from psychological crime to a novel about survival during the dark and disturbing history of the Black Death – is incredibly exciting. I’ve enjoyed bringing the same analytical qualities to history as I did to crime and hope readers will find The Last Hours as compelling, suspenseful and intriguing as any of my whodunnits.’ – Minette Walters
‘As an avid reader of every novel Minette Walters has ever written, it’s a life’s dream to publish this latest novel. I was gripped by The Last Hours from the first page – it is an astonishing novel, a soaring story that manages to deliver on all fronts, from the tiniest details to the longform narrative. I cannot wait to read book two!’ – Sara O’Keeffe, Editorial Director
About The Last Hours
Beautiful proofs of The Last Hours are available now
June, 1348: the Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe in the county of Dorsetshire. Unprepared for the virulence of the disease, and the speed with which it spreads, the people of the county start to die by their thousands. A culture of terror and superstition quickly sweeps across the land as news of the Black Death travels far and wide.
In the demesne of Develish, Lady Anne assumes control of her people’s future – including the lives of two hundred bonded serfs. Strong, compassionate and resourceful, Lady Anne chooses a bastard slave, Thaddeus Thurkell, to act as her steward. Together, they decide to quarantine Develish by bringing the serfs inside the walls. With this sudden overturning of the accepted social order, where serfs exist only to serve their lords, conflicts soon arise. Ignorant of what is happening in the world outside, they wrestle with themselves, with God and the terrible uncertainty of their futures. Lady Anne’s people fear starvation but they fear the pestilence more. Who amongst them has the courage to leave the safety of the demesne? And how safe is anyone in Develish when a terrible event threatens the uneasy status quo…?
The Last Hours will publish on 2nd November 2017
9781760632137 | £20 | Hardback
9781760632151 | £13.99 | Trade paperback
9781760632151 | eBook
Email marketing@atlantic-books.co.uk if you would like an early proof…
The Prophets of Eternal Fjord shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
We are delighted to announce that The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, an annual award presented for a novel either written in English or translated into English.
The novel, published by Atlantic Books, was translated from the original Danish by Martin Aitken. It follows the story of a newly ordained priest sailing to Greenland in 1787 to convert the Inuit to the Danish church. It has previously received the Golden Lauren award and the prestigious Nordic Council’s Literature Prize.
The nominators of the book called it, “a real masterpiece” and, “a unique and compelling reading experience.”
The judging panel for the International Dublin Literary Award 2017 consists of 6 judges, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey OBE, Kate Derbyshire, Kapka Kassabova, Professor Chris Morash, Jaume Subirana and Hon. Eugene R. Sullivan.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 21st June by Lord Mayor Brendan Carr, and will receive either €100,000 for a book written in English, or €75,000 for the author and €25,000 for the translator for an English translation. The shortlist also includes novels in translation from Angola, Austria, Mexico, Mozambique and Turkey.
Nominators’ comments in full:
“The winner of the prestigious Nordic Council’s literature prize is a remarkable historic novel about the colonies in West-Greenland at the end of the 18th century, in which Leine skilfully brings the past to life. This is a real masterpiece in which the enigmatic main protagonist , Marten Pedersen, takes you on an unpredictable journey from the streets of Copenhagen to the frozen outskirts of Greenland. A novel full of lust, faith, calamity and persecution.
Kim Leine charts the tragic events that intertwine seemingly disparate lives, illuminating the brutal and tender impulses of those seeking redemption and the shifting line between religion and mysticism. At once exotic and disturbingly relevant, a starting point for reflection and above all, a unique and compelling reading experience.
Leine’s saga follows Morten Falck, a deeply flawed Danish priest and missionary, from the alleys of Copenhagen to the fjords of Greenland. Crafted in a way that forces the reader to feel the itch of crawling lice and smell the stench of rotten blubber, this brutal yet majestic novel explores the complex relationship of the colonizer and the colonized.”
Fear and faeries: Sanjida Kay on The Stolen Child
The Stolen Child is the gripping new psychological thriller from rising star Sanjida Kay, the acclaimed author of Bone by Bone. Here Sanjida discusses how Irish myths and the poetry of WB Yeats influenced her chilling novel.
‘They stole you from me. They took you away for seven years. Your entire lifetime…Make no mistake, my darling. I am coming for you. I will take you back.’
The Stolen Child is about a couple, Zoe and Ollie, who long for children and when they’re unable to have their own, they adopt a little girl, Evie, from birth. But when she turns seven, Evie receives a card from her real father, telling her that she was stolen from him. Like most thrillers, the idea began as a one-liner…but when I started to flesh out the story, I realised that I had another, darker influence…
My mother and step-father are Irish and I grew up in Ireland before coming to live next to Ilkley moor, where The Stolen Child is set. Many Irish myths and folktales revolve around the little people, or faeries: one of the frequent themes of these tales is of a child who is spirited away by the faeries to the underworld, and then either returned years later when everyone they know is dead, or replaced with a changeling. Whe we were children, we used to chant a poem about faeries by Donegal poet, William Allingham. It seems to start off light-heartedly – Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen – but grows ever more sinister:
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
I’m sure Allingham influenced WB Yeats who, at the age of 21, wrote The Stolen Child, also about a child being taken away by the little people, and which gave me the idea for the title of my novel.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping
than you can understand.
Of course, there are no faeries in my novel: it’s set in modern-day suburbia, and any nastiness is purely the result of our all too human desires. But there’s a dark thread that runs through The Stolen Child borrowed from those ancient stories. Evie, gorgeous and innocent though she is, may be damaged. Her biological mother was a drug addict. When Zoe first sees Evie as a baby, she finds it hard to love her:
‘Something is not quite right. I struggle to inhale. Something is wrong. Seriously wrong…She doesn’t look like our child. She doesn’t look like a baby at all. Not a human one.’
And later Zoe worries about Evie’s ‘quirkiness’, as if her daughter, a dark child in a blonde family, is a changeling. And then, there is the setting – Ilkley moor – where the heather is interspersed with rowan trees, which in Ireland, belong to the little people. You must never fall asleep beneath one of them… There’s something too about the age seven: it’s a time when there’s a big shift in brain development and children start having a ‘conscience’ and becoming more emotionally and cognitively aware. Evie, as she turns seven, starts to realise what it means to be adopted, to be the outsider within a family. The faeries only release little Bridget after seven years…and seven is the number of years you’d serve in prison if your crime was extremely serious, but not quite as bad as murder…
In Yeats’ poem, the child initially wants to go with the faeries because they promise to give him stolen cherries and take him somewhere beautiful, away from the woes of the world. But when he agrees, they reveal the true nature of what they’re doing and what the child will lose. And Evie, like many adopted children, is, at first, intrigued and beguiled by the idea of her real father coming to take her away.
‘Evie is our beautiful, dark-haired, green-eyed child,’ I say. I can hear the tremor in my voice. ‘Like many seven-year-old girls, she’s obsessed with princesses. We think she looks more like a fairy… Please find her. Please bring her back to us. We miss her beyond measure. She is the love of our life.’
But to find out who has really taken Evie Morley, you may just need to read the whole story…
…
Sanjida Kay is a writer and broadcaster. She lives in Bristol with her daughter and husband. The Stolen Child is published by Corvus Books on 6th April.
Website: www.sanjida.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SanjidaKayAuthor
Twitter: @SanjidaKay
Instagram: @Sanjida.Kay
Remembering Jim Harrison and Legends of the Fall
For the anniversary of Jim Harrison’s death, Grove Press are publishing his seminal collection of novellas, Legends of the Fall.
One of the giants of the last half-century of American letters, Jim Harrison was the author of 39 books of fiction, poetry and essays. His voice came from the American heartland and his deep and abiding love of the American landscape runs through his extraordinary body of work.
Legends of the Fall is Harrison at his most memorable: a striking collection of novellas written with exceptional brilliance and a ferocious love of life.
The title novella, ‘Legends of the Fall’ – which was made into the film of the same name – is an epic, moving tale of three brothers fighting for justice in a world gone mad. Moving from the raw landscape of early twentieth-century Montana to the blood-drenched European battlefields of World War I and back again to Montana, Harrison’s powerful story explores the theme of revenge and the actions to which people resort when their lives or goals are threatened, painting an unforgettable portrait of the twentieth-century man.
We are proud to publish this collection, which also includes the novellas ‘Revenge’ and ‘The Man Who Gave Up His Name,’ on the anniversary of the author’s death. Remembering Jim, Morgan Entrekin, Publisher and CEO of Grove Atlantic, said:
I met Jim in 1978 when I was working with the legendary publisher Sam Lawrence, who asked me to read the manuscript of a collection of novellas called Legends of the Fall which Delacorte Press went on to publish to great acclaim. After Sam’s death in 1994, Jim decided to come publish with Grove Atlantic. Over 22 years, we published and reissued 19 of his books. His unwavering support of this old-fashioned independent literary publisher was one of the reasons we have survived and thrived. America has lost one of its greatest writers, but those of us at Grove Atlantic have lost a member of our family… Jim is gone but his work will live on.
Visit LitHub to read some of the tributes to Jim Harrison from key literary figures, admirers and friends.
Competition
Sign up to our prize-draw below and tell us why you love Jim Harrison to be in with a chance of winning a copy of the Legends of the Fall book alongside the DVD of the film adaptation (starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt).
The Earth is Weeping wins Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History
The New York Historical Society and the Gilder Lehrman Institute have announced that Peter Cozzens has been awarded the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History for The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West.
The $50,000 annual prize recognises the best book in the field of military history. Andrew Roberts, committee chair of the judging panel, said:
“The judges recognised The Earth Is Weeping as an instant classic of military history. His ambitiously broad sweep both geographically and chronologically, his diligent research, his masterful grasp of both strategy and tactics, but above all his beautiful written style made Peter Cozzens our unanimous winner.”
Discussing the award, Peter Cozzens said:
“I am deeply honored to receive the Gilder Lehrman Prize… Also, I am highly gratified that the Indian Wars of the American West will receive far wider attention as a consequence of the prestige this award carries.”
More about The Earth Is Weeping
With the end of the Civil War, the nation recommenced its expansion onto traditional Indian tribal lands, setting off a wide-ranging conflict that would last more than three decades. In his exploration of the wars and negotiations that destroyed tribal ways of life—even as they made possible the emergence of the modern United States—Peter Cozzens gives readers both sides in comprehensive and singularly intimate detail. In The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West, he illuminates the encroachment experienced by the tribes and the tribal conflicts over whether to fight or make peace and explores the lives of soldiers posted to the frontier and the ethical quandaries faced by generals who often sympathized with their native enemies.
More about Peter Cozzens
Peter Cozzens is the author or editor of 17 books on the American Civil War and the American West. He also recently retired from a 30-year career as a Foreign Service Officer, U. S. Department of State. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he served as a captain in the U. S. Army. Cozzens was a frequent contributor to the New York Times “Disunion” series, and he has written for America’s Civil War, Civil War Times Illustrated, MHQ, Cowboys & Indians, BBC World Histories, and Smithsonian, among other publications. Cozzens is a member of the Advisory Council of the Lincoln Prize and of the Literary Society of Washington, D.C. In 2002, Cozzens received the American Foreign Service Association’s highest award, given annually to one Foreign Service Officer for exemplary moral courage, integrity, and creative dissent.
Cover Reveal! Death Message by Kate London
The Corvus team are delighted to reveal the cover for Death Message, Kate London‘s intricate, gritty and believable new crime novel about a mother and daughter in peril – and two police officers who set out to save them.
Death Message by ex-Met detective Kate London publishes in May, hot on the heels of her bestselling debut crime thriller Post Mortem. Packed with authentic detail, gathered from Kate’s time serving with the Metropolitan Police’s murder squad, Death Message is a thrilling drama grounded in the day-to-day realities of police work, perfect for fans of The Fall, Scott and Bailey, and Broadchurch.
More about Death Message
October 1987: the morning after the Great Storm. Fifteen-year-old Tania Mills walks out her front door and disappears. Twenty-seven years later her mother still prays for her return. DS Sarah Collins in the Met’s Homicide Command is determined to find out what happened,
PC Lizzie Griffiths,
As both cases unfold,
More about Kate London
Kate London graduated from Cambridge University and moved to Paris where she trained in theatre. In 2006 Kate joined the Metropolitan Police Service. She finished her career working as part of a Major Investigation Team on SC&O1 – the Metropolitan Police Service’s Homicide Command. She resigned from the MPS in August 2014. Her debut novel Post Mortem was published by Corvus in 2015.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos longlisted for Walter Scott Prize
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith has been longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world.
The novel, published by Allen & Unwin, is an utterly gripping story set between 17th century Holland, 1950s Manhattan and modern day Sydney, and follows a trail of art, forgery and deception.
The Walter Scott Prize judges called it “an extraordinary year” for the genre. The panel, comprising seven judges, Alistair Moffat, Elizabeth Buccleuch, Elizabeth Laird, Kate Figes, Katharine Grant, James Holloway and James Naughtie, said:
“We were knocked out by the quality and variety of the entries this year, but we have finally arrived at a longlist of astonishing depth and richness. We look forward to the challenging task of narrowing such a great longlist down to a shortlist.”
The judging panel will announce a shortlist in April, and the winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, on 16th June. The winner will receive £25,000 and shortlisted authors will each receive £1,000.
…
In addition to the shortlist, the prize also published a further list of 20 books recommended by the Walter Scott Prize Academy to help broaden the reach of the prize.
This list includes Resolution by A.N. Wilson, published by Atlantic Books. This breathtakingly vivid novel recalls the three voyages Captain Cook made to the southern hemisphere, culminating in the last, fateful expedition on which he was brutally murdered.
…
The paperback of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos is published in May 2017.
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