Atlantic pre-empts Gelfuso’s debut amid a flurry of international interest
Atlantic Fiction has pre-empted Hayley Gelfuso’s speculative novel The Book of Lost Hours in a joint offer with Allen & Unwin Australia.
In her first acquisition for Atlantic Fiction since moving from Cornerstone, Rachel Imrie pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canda and ANZ, from Laura Williams at Greene and Heaton on behalf of Jennifer Weltz at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. ANZ rights were bought by Alex Craig at Allen & Unwin Australia via Cole Hildebrand, North American rights were bought by Simon and Schuster in the US and Canada. At the time of writing, translation rights have been sold in eight territories, with ongoing auctions in several other territories.
Set between 1938 and 1965, The Book of Lost Hours is a sweeping, time-bending novel about family, love, and memory. It centres on Lisavet who finds herself trapped in the ‘timespace’, a vast archive of the memories of everyone who has ever lived, where ‘timekeepers’ decide whose memories survive and whose are destroyed. Lisavet endeavours to save as many memories as she can, but when she falls in love with a timekeeper, the whole course of history could be at stake.
Imrie said:
‘Hayley’s novel is everything I want from a book: imaginative worldbuilding, immersive storytelling and characters who you can’t help but fall for. Hayley offers erudite insights into history and collective memory, whilst always delivering on story. This novel is bold, heartfelt and truly something special – I couldn’t be happier to have brought Hayley and her gorgeous novel to Atlantic.’
Gelfuso commented:
‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Atlantic Books and Allen & Unwin to bring The Book of Lost Hours to readers in the UK and Australia. This story holds a special place in my heart, and I’m delighted to know that it will be in the very best of hands. Both Atlantic Books and Allen & Unwin have published some of my most admired authors, and it’s an honour to join such a distinguished literary family.’
Williams said:
‘It’s been a joy to champion Hayley’s gorgeous novel here. I can’t wait to see The Book of Lost Hours fly next year with Rachel and Atlantic, and in many other territories throughout the world.’ Weltz added: ‘The love for this book is palpable and we couldn’t be happier to have the amazing teams of Atlantic books and Allen and Unwin on board!’
Atlantic will publish The Book of Lost Hours in hardback in Autumn 2025.
Atlantic Fiction acquires stiletto-sharp satire about fame and obsession from Hannah Beer
Atlantic Books has acquired I Make My Own Fun, a stiletto-sharp satire about the perils of celebrity and obsession by Hannah Beer.
The publisher acquired world rights directly from the author, including audio and dramatisation, and the book will be published by Editor Rachel Imrie in March 2025 in hardback, trade paperback and e-book.
‘Everyone knows Marina, the A-list movie star. But very few know Marina, the absolute monster. Years at the top have proved that whatever Marina wants, she gets. But when she meets bartender Anna, Marina discovers something that can’t be bought: Anna’s affection. As Anna remains unmoved, Marina’s advances become more desperate – and her obsession more dangerous. The price of fame is heavy – and someone is going to pay for it…’
Rachel Imrie says, ‘I can’t wait to introduce readers to Marina, the ultimate A-lister who you’ll love to hate. I Make My Own Fun is dark, funny and bombastic. Hannah takes us on a thrilling rollercoaster ride, while also meditating on our collective fascination with celebrity and exploring the depths of one woman’s infatuation.’
Hannah Beer says, ‘I wanted to write something that examined the strangeness of celebrity culture, and asked “what if the most famous person in the world was also kind of evil?” I’m so grateful that the Atlantic team embraced Marina wholeheartedly. It’s a complete dream to be published by Atlantic, and I’m so excited for I Make My Own Fun to be out in the world.’
Corvus signs two more from ‘dream of an author’ Hailey
Sarah Hodgson, Publishing Director of Atlantic Books’ Corvus imprint, has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in two new novels by Carole Hailey from Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency. The first novel in the contract, Scenes from a Tragedy, will publish in hardback, export trade paperback and ebook in March 2025.
Hailey’s debut novel, The Silence Project, published by Corvus in 2023, was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Prize as well as being a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick, Waterstones’ Welsh Book of the Month, and a Kindle No. 1 bestseller.
Scenes From a Tragedy is a literary thriller with a heart of darkness about the ripple effect of one person’s inability to form meaningful human connections.
Framed as an investigation by journalist Carly Atherton into a plane crash in the Lake District, it explores the devastating influence a non-violent female psychopath has on her brother, his wife and their lives.
As Carly delves into the dynamics of a seemingly ordinary family, she uncovers a far darker story than she could possibly have imagined. A story she risks becoming part of even as she tries to piece together the truth.
Because the bonds that shape us can also tear us apart. And sometimes there are monsters living among us, hiding in plain sight…
Carole Hailey says:
‘It is thrilling to know I will be having two more novels published by Corvus. I could not have wished for a better experience with my debut and I’m really excited and enormously grateful to have the opportunity to work with Sarah and the whole Corvus team on another two books.’
Sarah Hodgson says:
‘Carole was an absolute dream of an author to work with on The Silence Project, so I couldn’t wait to see what she would write next. Scenes From a Tragedy exceeded all my expectations, with its chilling premise, clever structure, nuanced characterization, all underpinned by Carole’s subtle and incredibly skilled writing. I’m so happy to be publishing two more novels on the Corvus list by such a talent.’
Corvus acquires The Glass House
Sarah Hodgson, Publishing Director of Atlantic Books’ Corvus imprint, has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights to house author Rachel Donohue’s The Glass House from Sara O’Keeffe at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. The Glass House will be published in trade paperback in February 2025.
Rachel Donohue’s debut novel, The Temple House Vanishing, was an Irish Times bestseller and named one of the best thrillers of 2021 by The New York Times. In 2017, she won the prestigious Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award for her short fiction which has been published in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, RTE on-line, The Honest Ulsterman and The Cormorant journals.
Her new novel – The Glass House – is a darkly compelling story of two sisters haunted by the absence of a long-dead father and the terrible secrets he kept.
In 1963, Galway on the west coast of Ireland is home to Richard Acklehurst, a charismatic philosopher celebrated as a genius by his acolytes and condemned as a Nazi sympathizer by others. In late December, like every year, his household is preparing for a glittering New Year’s Eve party at his stark and isolated modernist mansion, known to everybody as the Glass House – but this year, the party will end with his mysterious death.
On the eve of the new millennium, Acklehurst’s remains are defiled in the country graveyard where they have lain undisturbed for over thirty years, forcing his two daughters, Aisling and Stella – teenagers at the time of their father’s death – to return to their childhood home. There, they must finally confront a past that will not remain buried and the complex and dark dynamic at the heart of their family.
Moving from the West of Ireland to Dublin, London, Florence and back, The Glass House is a captivating tale of love, regret and vengeance.
Rachel Donohue says,
‘I wanted to create a rich, dark world centred on two sisters coming of age in 1960s Ireland in the long shadow of an imperious and controversial father figure. With a secret at its heart, I hope readers can escape into this story of love, regret and revenge.’
Sarah Hodgson says,
‘I’m delighted to have a new novel from the hugely talented Rachel Donohue on the Corvus list. The Glass House is a powerfully written tale that explores the dark heart of a family with compassion and tenderness. I hope that readers will fall in love with Aisling and Stella, two very different sisters, as I have.’
Rachel Imrie joins Atlantic
Atlantic Books has appointed Rachel Imrie to the position of Fiction Editor, publishing on to both the Atlantic Fiction literary list and the Corvus commercial list.
Imrie previously worked at Cornerstone, Penguin Random House, where she worked with giant brand authors such as James Patterson, Harlen Coben and the Michael Crichton estate, and conceptualised and commissioned IP projects such as a Scotland-based female-led crime novel, for publication on the Century list in 2026. Before that, Imrie worked at Cambridge University Press. She has participated in PRH’s WriteNow programme, seeking out and nurturing new writers from under-represented communities, and she has been shortlisted for 4th Estate’s prestigious 4thWrite Short Story Prize.
In her new role, she reports to publishing directors James Roxburgh and Sarah Hodgson.
James Roxburgh says:
‘Rachel is a particularly sharp, passionate and entrepreneurial editor, her range and market knowledge extending from the commercial to the high literary, her taste from Lucy Foley to Kazuo Ishiguro. She’s looking forward to building her lists, commissioning from agents and developing smart IP for Atlantic’s Workshop Programme, and we’re looking forward to adding her intelligence and dynamism to a publishing house that is currently publishing some of its boldest and most successful fiction in the company’s 25-year history.’
Rachel Imrie says:
‘I am incredibly grateful for my time at Century and will miss their brilliant team and authors enormously, but I’m excited to take this next step in my career. For Atlantic, I’m looking to commission literary and upmarket fiction with sharp voices that paint astute character portraits and/or have something original to say about contemporary issues. For Corvus, I’m keen to find romance and crime/thrillers that are excellently plotted with unique hooks and smart storytelling.’
Rachel is actively building her lists and can be contacted here: rachelimrie@atlantic-books.co.uk
Atlantic Fiction acquires ‘swaggering debut of conflict and camaraderie’, The Kings Head
Atlantic Fiction has acquired World rights from Ciara McEllin at Watson Little in Kelly Frost’s debut The Kings Head, a brilliant, swaggering debut of conflict and camaraderie, carving a slice of history for London’s forgotten Teddy Girls. The Kings Head will be published in hardback on 6th February 2025.
It’s 1957 and the Kings – Harry, Tony, Saint, the most fearless girls in N4 – rule the bomb-struck streets of Finsbury Park. The war is over but the real battle’s just begun, as Harry, their unpredictable, prideful, dangerously charismatic leader, decides that the Seven Sisters Road should be theirs too. But this is territory owned by the Sisters, a rival North London gang, and not easily given up. Never ones to back down from a fight, the Kings strengthen their numbers with girls from the local schools. As football matches morph into moonlit brawls, and scraps in dancehalls glint with weapons, tensions mount. And as the authorities close in, as conscripted boys come back from the war to claim what was theirs, there’s no telling what the consequences will be…
Kelly Frost grew up in Salisbury and presently lives and works in Jersey as a journalist. She has an undergraduate degree in English from UCL and a Master’s degree in American literature from Oxford, where her writing appeared in student publications. The Kings Head is her first novel.
Atlantic Fiction says:
‘Kelly’s writing is as sharp and glittering as the flick-knives her protagonists carry, and her novel is one of the most energetic and forceful debuts we’ve encountered for an age. We can’t wait to publish The Kings Head and we’re delighted that it’s our gang that Kelly’s chosen to join.’
Kelly Frost, author says: ‘For me, London’s girl gangs were always missing from the bookshelves, and I hope that the Kings, the Sisters, and all the punches they throw, the insults they lob, and their unforgettable fashion, goes some way to remedying that omission. I’m thrilled that The Kings Head has found a home with the brilliant and committed team at Atlantic, and I’m so grateful for their unwavering support.’
Ciara McEllin, agent, says:
‘I was instantly captivated by the charming and fearless girl gangs in The Kings Head when Kelly sent it to me and am delighted it has found the perfect place at Atlantic. I can’t wait for readers to meet the unforgettable Kings!’
Corvus acquires warm and witty debut about community, family and love in 1970s Mumbai
Corvus Publishing Director Sarah Hodgson has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in Vedashree Khambete Sharma’s What Will People Think? from Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton. What Will People Think? will be published in hardback and trade paperback in November 2024, with a paperback following in July 2025.
Vedashree Khambete-Sharma works in advertising in Mumbai, and in the course of her 18-year copywriting career, she has won both Indian and international awards for her work, including a Cannes Lion. What Will People Think? is her fourth novel and the first to be published in the UK.
It’s 1976 and in the Vile Parle suburb of Mumbai, bastion of the Maharashtrian middle-class, Ila Bendre’s mother is determined to get her four daughters married off as soon as possible.
Ila has no intention of snaring a proposal from some dull specimen of Marathi manhood so she can pretend to care about cricket for the rest of her life. She wants a career and life of her own, and she’ll do whatever it takes to escape married bliss, no matter what the neighbours might say.
But when Ila’s Bollywood-obsessed younger sister, Latika, takes the matter of marriage into her owns hands, it looks as if the Bendre family’s reputation in this close-knit community will be ruined once and for all…
As we follow the Bendre sisters from dinners to parties to weddings, from Vile Parle to Pune, will love eventually conquer all in this ingeniously witty and charming tale of pride, prejudice and puran polis?
Vedashree Khambete-Sharma says,
‘It has been so much fun bringing alive the quirks and charms of a community, as well as the sights and sounds of 1970s Mumbai. I’m hoping readers find as much joy in reading the book as I did while writing it.’
Sarah Hodgson says,
‘I am so delighted to welcome Vedashree to the Corvus list with this sparklingly warm and witty tale of community, family and (eventually) love (spoiler alert: it does NOT go smoothly). I can’t wait for readers to meet Ila and her sisters, not to mention the gloriously gossipy friends and family who surround them.’
Atlantic pre-empts new book by multi-million-bestselling author Rolf Dobelli
Atlantic Books has pre-empted The Not To Do List: 52 Laws for Avoiding Life’s Biggest Mistakes by Rolf Dobelli, author of the 3-million-copy bestseller The Art of Thinking Clearly.
Drummond Moir, Managing Director, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights for Atlantic’s Allen & Unwin UK imprint from Elisabeth Wiedemann at Piper. The book will be published in February 2025.
Translation rights were also sold to Het Spectrum in the Netherlands and Business Weekly in Taiwan. The German edition will be published in October 2024 in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Rolf Dobelli said:
‘The Art of Thinking Clearly revealed the cognitive biases to avoid for better decision-making; in my new book I’ll reveal the habits to avoid for better living – from pitfalls to avoid in your career, to the biggest mistakes we make when it comes to maintaining relationships and creating a meaningful life. This is an inversion of life advice, because happiness and success are easier than you think – just don’t do these 52 things!’
Drummond Moir said:
‘We’re thrilled that Rolf has chosen to come to Atlantic at a time of great momentum for our Allen & Unwin UK imprint. We’ve seen sales of The Courage to Be Disliked increase by 1000% year on year, and have signed up several other exciting books for the imprint including Finnish philosopher Frank Martela’s Stop Chasing Happiness: Counterintuitive Life Advice from the World’s Happiest Country and Bryanna Kappadakunnel’s Parent Yourself First: Becoming the Parent You Wish You’d Had. The Not To Do List will be a key focus for our 2025 publishing, and we can’t wait to bring Rolf’s brilliant new book to readers around the world’.
Corvus acquires two further Emma Curtis novels after boosting sales by 300%
Corvus Publishing Director Sarah Hodgson has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in two new devastatingly twisty psychological suspense novels by Emma Curtis from Rebecca Ritchie at A. M. Heath, off the back of a book-on-book sales increase of 300%.
The first novel in the deal, The Aftermath, will be published in PBO and eBook in October 2025. It centres on the devastating consequences for two families of a teenage girl’s lie.
Emma Curtis’s first five novels were published by Transworld – her debut, One Little Mistake, was a Kindle No. 1 bestseller. She moved to Corvus with The Babysitter, published in October 2023, which has sold well over 15,000 copies to date through the TCM – tripling sales against her previous title, Invite Me In.
Corvus expects to further grow Emma Curtis’s sales and profile, with ambitious plans for her next outing. The Commuter, publishing in October of this year, is a tense and gripping domestic thriller featuring a flawed heroine and a magnetic stranger in a twist-filled plot worth missing your tube stop for.
Sarah Hodgson said:
‘Emma Curtis is a top-notch writer of psychological suspense. She always delivers a breathtakingly unputdownable read featuring relatable yet flawed protagonists and water-tight plotting. I’m over the moon that I get to continue publishing her on the Corvus list.’
Emma Curtis said
‘I’m absolutely delighted that Corvus will be publishing The Aftermath. Working with Sarah on The Babysitter and The Commuter has been such a pleasure and the team’s enthusiasm for my novels has made the hard work worthwhile. I feel very privileged to work with an editor who inspires me to push my writing to another level.’
Atlantic Fiction acquires The Book of George
Joanna Lee, editor at Atlantic Fiction, acquired UK & BC ex Can rights from Flora Esterly at Holt in Kate Greathead’s The Book of George. The Book of George will be published in hardback in January 2025 with a paperback to follow.
Kate Greathead is the author of Laura & Emma. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, and on PRX’s The Moth Radio Hour. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the writer Teddy Wayne, and their children.
We all know a George. He’s the kind of guy who might cook pasta inside the kettle; he doesn’t know if he’s in love with his girlfriend but he definitely likes having her around; he meant to text his mum for Mother’s Day but… forgot; he swears he’ll finish his novel one day. This is the story of one life, but George is a thousand men. Perfect for fans of Fleishman is in Trouble, Good Material and Cleopatra and Frankenstein, this is a deft, unexpectedly moving never-coming-of-age for anyone who has ever been a reluctant mother, cleaner or therapist to a George of their own.
Kate Greathead says,
‘I am thrilled to be working with Joanna Lee and the rest of the team at Atlantic Books, and can’t wait for George to have such a brilliant home in the UK.’
Joanna Lee says,
‘As soon as I picked up The Book of George, I knew this was magic: Kate writes the kind of contemporary man we’ve all met, with a humour, compassion and intelligence that leap off every page. This set the entire team at Atlantic alight, and we can’t wait to bring George to readers over here with the energy, wit and fun that this book deserves.’
PUBLICITY CONTACT: Kate Straker| katestraker@atlantic-books.co.uk | 020 7269 0246
www.atlantic-books.co.uk | @AtlanticBooks
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