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‘Outlander’ actor Hudson’s romp is a hit with Tinder


Début Tinder Press assistant editor Amy Perkins pre-


empted world rights for the first novel from actress Nell Hudson, in a deal concluded with Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency. The “Outlander” and “Victoria” star’s Just for Today is a “The Secret History meets ‘Skins’” look at a group of London- based friends in their twenties. Tinder Press will release the novel as its lead début in summer 2022.


Firefly ventures into non- fiction with sports series Welsh children’s publisher Firefly Press is to release its first non- fiction titles with the launch of the Stupendous Sports series, written by Robin Bennett and illustrated by Matt Cherry. Firefly acquired world rights in three “Horrible Histories for sport” titles from Joanna Moult at Skylark Literary. Aimed at read- ers aged seven to 11, the series kicks off with Rampaging Rugby in August 2021, with Cool Cricket and Fabulous Football to follow at a later date.


Main grabs powerful tale of sterilisation


Rapid pre- empt


Phoenix Books publisher Francesca Main has snapped up a novel by US


author Dolen Perkins-Valdez with “powerful themes of race, class and eugenics” in an overnight pre-empt. Main signed UK and Commonwealth rights in If This is Peace, and another title, for her new Orion imprint from Stephanie Cabot at Susanna Lea Associates. Cabot also sold North American rights to Amanda Bergeron at Berkley in a “major” deal.


Set in 1970s Alabama, the novel


tells of a black nurse who makes a shocking discovery about two young sisters in her care, and her fight against the systematic sterilisation of women and girls across the US. The book is based loosely on the case of Mary Alice and Minnie Lee Relf, who were involuntarily steri- lised at a federally-funded clinic in Alabama when they were 14 and 12 respectively. The sisters’ subsequent lawsuit against the US government put the issue of forced sterilisation


Actors sign for Headline


Début Headline has bought a début told from two


perspectives, co-written by husband-and-wife actors Olivia Poulet and Laurence Dobiesz. Editorial director Sherise Hobbs acquired world rights from Katie Haines at The Agency in 12 Hours to Say I Love You, after being hooked by the novel’s “simple” premise: “What if the love of your life was slipping away and you had only 12 hours to convince them to stay?” Headline will publish the novel in spring 2022.


W&N takes lockdown tale


Début A “poetic, political” literary début about


English identity has gone to Weidenfeld. Lee Brackstone bought world all-language rights to Will Burns’ The Paper Lantern from Becky Thomas at Johnson & Alcock. Nijgh & Van Ditmar took Netherlands rights, and Spanish rights went to Penguin Random House. Set in a village near the Chequers estate in Buckinghamshire, the novel traces “the shifts in mood and understanding that have defined the lockdown”.


06 14th October 2020


Quercus is to publish a book about what women think about when they are having sex, exploring “female sexuality in new and exciting ways”. Women on Top of the World, the brainchild of non-fiction publisher Katy Follain, is edited by Lucy-Anne Holmes, the feminist activist who spearheaded the campaign to abolish the Sun’s “Page 3” photographs of topless women. Holmes, who is represented by Jo Unwin from JULA, inter-


viewed 51 women across the world from all walks of life. Quercus said the resulting range of testimonials from “heterosexual, gay, pansexual and transgender women, as well as non-binary people, will contribute to the changing way we recognise sex to be something that is more inclusive, nuanced and representative than it currently is in society”. Each story will be illustrated, with 31 artists making contributions to the project—pictured above is Brazilian illustrator Bárbara Malagoli’s contribution. Quercus has world rights, and will publish in February 2021.


DOLEN PERKINS-VALDEZ IS THE AUTHOR OF TWO BESTSELLERS IN THE US


in the national spotlight. Main said: “I read If This is Peace compulsively, unable to put it down until its bitersweet conclusion. It explores powerful themes of race, class and eugenics, but is above all the deeply moving, unforgetable story of a health worker’s love for two girls in her care and pursuit of both justice and redemption. It feels like a modern classic and an inter- national bestseller in the making.” Perkins-Valdez is the author of two US bestsellers, 2010’s Wench and 2015’s Balm; both are set around the American Civil War era and explore slavery and race relations. She said: “When I learned of this case, I could not help but wonder how something like this was allowed to happen. The result of my inabilit to shake this thought is this novel, which raises questions of culpabilit and ethics in a societ that deems poor, black and disabled as catego- ries unfit for motherhood—ques- tions that remain salient today.” Reporting Caroline Carpenter


Roden returns as Ebury goes for Mediterranean


Claudia Roden has moved to Ebury with her first book in nearly a decade, which the publisher claims will be a “love letter to the sun-soaked simplicity of Mediterranean food”. Ebury publisher Andrew Goodfellow and Lizzy Gray,


THE ILLUSTRATED TITLE FEATURES ARTWORK BY COMIC JENNY ECLAIR AND MUSICIAN CHRISSIE HYNDE


Women’s sexuality title to Quercus


publishing director for Illustrated, Ebury Press and BBC Books, negotiated world all-language rights from Lizzy Kremer at David Higham to Mediterranean, a collection of 120 recipes. The title was sold to DK Verlag in Germany, Fontaine Uitgevers in the Netherlands and Ten Speed Press in North America. Roden, who was born in Cairo and moved to London in


the 1950s, is one of the giants of world cookery books. Her first title, 1968’s A Book of Middle Eastern Food, is credited with revolutionising Western attitudes to Middle Eastern cuisine. She has sold £3.1m worth of books in the UK in the BookScan era, despite not publishing a title since 2012’s The Food of Spain (Michael Joseph). Ebury, which will publish in 2021, said Mediterranean will be both “a treasure for existing fans and a wonderful introduction for a whole new audience to Claudia’s evocative writing and delicious cooking”. Goodfellow said Ebury was “thrilled and honoured to bring such an amazing culinary trailblazer to our list. Claudia has shaped so much of our contemporary taste in food, and it will be a dream for our cookery team to help her create the definitive book of her long career and bring it to the widest possible audience.”


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LATEST NEWS Bookshops campaign for same business rate relief as pubs


Bookshops are asking to be given the same business-rate relief as pubs, arguing they help to drive social cohesion in a similar way to drinking establishments.


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PLR to cover e-books and audiobooks


The Public Lending Right (PLR) will be extended to cover e-book audiobooks borrowed from libraries from1st J


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