Archives: Book

Description.

The Chief Shepherdess

The Film/TV Rights are currently under option.

“I grab the motionless lamb, which is frighteningly slippery, and scramble on my feet, swinging its little body around to help it breathe. I see its chest move, then it sneezes and starts breathing. It’s stunned by its delivery experience. As am I. I’m high on adrenaline. Tears are streaming down my face. I pop the lamb down on the ground and start frantically rubbing its tiny body… Looking back, I can see that this was one of the first moments of questioning whether I’m truly cut out for farming and realising that the answer might be… yes”


Zoë Colville spent years in a fancy hair salon with a long list of clients, living on cigarettes, croissants, and a shoestring. It was everything she’d ever wanted. But when an unexpected and overwhelming loss caused her life to shift unexpectedly, she found herself on a different path. One where the only use for a hairdryer is warming new-born lambs; where the cycle of life on a farm gives new meaning on purpose, and where nature is both a strict teacher and a balm to soothe the pressures of everyday life.

In this memoir, she speaks vivaciously, humourously, and candidly about the lessons learned along the way, from mental health, social media and identity to surviving as an entrepreneur in a shifting economy. And through those lessons – in love, loss, and lambing – discovering something even more important: that it’s always the right time to take a bold step and try something new.

Zoë is represented by Charlie Campbell at Greyhound Literary Agency. Zoe has also featured in Country Living’s ‘Nature & My Mental Health’ video series, which you can see here.

Wolf Road

The Times ‘Children’s Book of the Week’

‘A fine storyteller’ Philip Pullman

‘A wonderful book – exciting, fascinating, gripping, beautifully written’ Anthony McGowan

‘Highly atmospheric, this impressive story asks questions about human fears across the ages.’ Daily Mail

Wolf Road is the debut middle grade novel from Professor Alice Roberts and is the first in her pre-historic adventure series published by Simon & Schuster. Set against a deadly Ice Age back drop, we follow Tuuli, a young prehistoric girl, as she and her tribe travel through the seasons. Wolf Road is both an action-packed tale of friendship and a vivid imagining of life as a hunter-gatherer.

 

Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. Tuuli knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises that he might hold the adventure she is looking for.

He is from another tribe, sent to find safer ground and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will impact the rest of human history.

A vast adventure with a very human heart, full of wild animals, huge scenery and heart-stopping danger and inspired by real anthropological discoveries. The stunning debut novel from Digging for Britain presenter, Professor Alice Roberts, for fans of His Dark Materials, Wolf Brother and The Last Bear.

 

Professor Alice Roberts is an academic, author and broadcaster, specialising in human anatomy, physiology, evolution, archaeology and history. In 2001, Alice made her television debut on Channel 4’s Time Team, and went on to write and present The Incredible Human Journey, Origins of Us and Ice Age Giants on BBC2. She is also the presenter of the popular TV series Digging for Britain. Alice has been a Professor of Public Engagement with Science at the University of Birmingham since 2012.

The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy: (The Irregular Book 1)

‘Irresistible’ Guardian

‘Impressive’ Daily Mail
‘Captivating’ Mick Herron
Nominated for the 2018 Best First Novel, Barry Award

 

London 1909

Captain Kell of the War Office knows the Empire is under threat – from Russia and Germany, from terrorists and anarchists, spies and infiltrators.

But he can’t prove it to his superiors. He needs an agent he can trust, someone who knows the street, not the playing fields of Eton.

Kell needs Wiggins. Trained as a child by Kell’s old friend Sherlock Holmes, who used to call his little band of urchins the Baker Street Irregulars, Wiggins is now an ex soldier with an expert line in deduction and the cunning of a bare-knuckle fighter.

But he has no wish to be recruited – until he sees a route to taking his sworn revenge on the killer of his best friend.

 

HB Lyle (Ben) worked in the film industry for many years, first at the Film Council, then Fine Line Features in acquisitions and for a long time in development at Working Title Films. He’s worked on such films as Darkest Hour, Everest, I Give it a Year, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy. After completing his MA in creative writing (prose) at UEA, he was funded to conduct and complete a PhD study into the culture and practices of screenplay development in the UK.

Ben’s short, HELP, was directed by Leslie Manning and produced by Annalise Davis and was screened at more than 50 festivals worldwide. He’s represented for his screenwriting by Nick Marston at Curtis Brown and currently has original script projects in development with Wilder Films and Lionsgate UK and his publishing rights are represented by Jemima Hunt at The Writers Practice. Spy Hunter (out November 2023) is the fourth novel in The Irregular series, all published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK and Mobius in the US. The Irregular was nominated for the Barry Award, as well as making the Daily Telegraph’s books of the year 2017.

The Red Ribbon and The Year of the Gun were both books of the year in the Financial Times.

Reasonable People

REASONABLE PEOPLE is a sharp, funny and timely comedy-of-errors about a feuding family, published by Orion on 3rd August 2023.

CantBeArsed8: Am I the villain for being furious my partner’s father changed my daughter’s pirate party into a princess party?

After a kid’s party faux-pas, mother Janine anonymously vents about her father-in-law’s behaviour on internet forum Am I The Villain Here? When the community is invited to take sides the post goes viral, with mild-mannered Roy ending up in the national newspapers and sparking protests at his local library. REASONABLE PEOPLE explores how judging others reveals our deepest, most unreasonable selves.

Caroline Hulse lives in Manchester with her husband and a small controlling dog. She is the author of ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR, LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE and THE ADULTS. Her books have been published in fourteen languages and optioned for television.

She is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

Eye for an Eye

EYE FOR AN EYE is the gripping new thriller by Sunday Times bestseller, MJ Arlidge, published by Orion. A thought-provoking novel set in the world of the probationary services, EYE FOR AN EYE explores reform and empathy within our justice system, asking the question “Who deserves justice? And who gets to decide?”.

 

Some people deserve to die… But does anyone deserve to kill?

There are just six criminals in the UK who have been granted lifelong anonymity. This is because their crimes were either so heinous, or they were committed when they were children – or both. That means that once they are released, they are given new identities – new homes in new towns, with new jobs and new neighbours – and they cannot by law be named as who they are, or were…

This is a story about what happens if someone starts exposing their true identities, one by one, systematically leaking their names and addresses to the families of their victims who seek swift retribution – and even vigilante justice.

But what about the newly released prisoner, given a second chance at building a life? Or the mother, who has raised her son – the only thing she’s got right in her life – who is suddenly dragged back into the nightmare of her true past? Or the father who lost everything – and now has a chance to go down the rabbit hole of revenge that he’s fantasised about for years?

And the probation service officers on the frontline – broken people in a broken system – managing the biggest crisis in its history, while trying to find the source of the leak as their world falls apart?

Matthew Arlidge is a bestselling author whose previous books include the hit eleven-book ‘Detective Helen Grace’ series, which includes HIDE AND SEEK, LITTLE BOY BLUE, THE DOLL’S HOUSE and his debut EENY MEENY, which was a Richard and Judy pick and was sold in 29 countries. These are under option with Endor.

Matt is also a writer and creator of TV – he wrote and co-created the ITV series, INNOCENT, and has written on several other prime time TV series, as well as executive producing shows such as UNDENIABLE and MISTRESSES. He currently has several original screen projects in development.

His publishing agent is Hellie Ogden at WME.

Murder at Church Lodge

MURDER AT CHURCH LODGE is the first in Greg Mosse’s 4-book ‘Maisie Cooper Mystery Series’  set in 1970s Sussex. Published by Hodder, the second book, MURDER AT BUNTING MANOR, will be out in November 2023.

With shades of Agatha Raisin and Midsummer Murders and led by a smart and intriguing central female character, these books are perfectly suited to a returnable crime series set in rural England.

 

The Maisie Cooper mystery series is set in the Sussex countryside in the ’70s, where the villages are picturesque but secrets and murders abound.

In Murder at Church Lodge, Maisie Cooper returns to her childhood home to visit the brother she hasn’t seen in years, but when she arrives, she discovers he’s been murdered.

Determined not to leave all the investigating up to the incompetent police — and trying not to be distracted by the handsome lead detective — Maisie does some digging of her own and starts to uncover a sinister mystery at the heart of the perfect village.

And when another death rocks the community, Maisie must race to find the clues and solve the case before the killer strikes again.

 

Greg Mosse is a ‘writer and encourager of writers’, husband of international bestselling author, Kate Mosse. He has lived and worked in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Madrid as an interpreter and translator, but grew up in rural south-west Sussex. In 2014, he founded the Criterion New Writing playwriting programme in the heart of the West End and, since then, has produced more than 25 of his own plays and musicals. His creative writing workshops are highly sought after at festivals at home and abroad. His superbly reviewed future thriller, The Coming Darkness, was published by Moonflower in 2022.

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh

WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH is a blistering and gritty account of working-class female friendship, set in the schoolyards, nightclubs, and the alleyways of Doncaster. Chatto & Windus acquired the book at auction and will publish in the UK in Spring 2025, alongside Holt in the US.

Rach, Kel and Shaz bonded on the first day of big school, after Shaz lost a fight with older girls round the back of the skating rink. Since then, they shared everything from blagging their way into nightclubs, how to masturbate with an electric toothbrush and trips to the FP (Family Planning) when they’re late. Everything, except what happened to Shaz in the cornfield that one summer night.

So why, when Shaz and Rach bump into each other in town centre – late twenties, after the Brexit vote – are they strangers to each other? If they are ever to understand what happened to them as girls, Shaz must decide whether she has the courage to tell her secret, and risk destroying everything.

Colwill Brown was born and raised in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, though is now based in the US.  She holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a recipient of a James A. Michener Center Fellowship, and an MA in English literature from Boston College.  Her work has appeared in Granta, Prairie Schooner and elsewhere.  A proud Donny lass, she claims to have played bass guitar in every rock venue on South Yorkshire’s toilet circuit. Colwill is represented by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson and Lerner.

From Now Until Forever

FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER follows Ben Church, a man running out of time and trying to grab every bit of life he can, and Vita Ambrose, a widow trying to run down the clock – and asks the question: is it ever too late to fall in love? It is funny, charming, and has a wonderful compelling twist.

Vita Ambrose’s life looks glamorous from the outside, but she’s stopped trying to really live it. What use is a life when you have spent it losing those who are closest to you?

Ben Church has never done anything risky. He’s never been on an adventure. He’s never fallen in love. Now he wants to do it all – because Ben is running out of time.

Time seems to stop altogether when Ben and Vita meet. Brought together by their shared passion for the art and work of Leonardo da Vinci, their attraction is powerful and instantaneous. As they grow closer, life’s great joys suddenly feel within reach.

But Ben and Vita know they don’t have long together. Unless they can find a way to make their love last forever?

Rowan Coleman is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author and screenwriter of sixteen novels including THE MEMORY BOOK, THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBLE THINGS and THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW. A life-long Bronte fan, under the Bronte inspired pen name Bella Ellis, Rowan also writes the Bronte Mysteries – a carefully researched series of novels that imagine that before they were famous the Bronte Sisters were amateur detectives. Rowan is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

Jaded

Set in cut-throat, corporate London, JADED is a blistering account of consent, power, race, sexism and identity in a broken society. The novel follows the story of a mixed-race lawyer in London who, after a night of heavy drinking at a work event, has to piece together what happened. It is darkly humorous and bitingly honest, with a fantastic cast of characters and electrifying setting. It is reminiscent of INDSUTRY and I MAY DESTROY YOU, but with a refreshing and unique tone – exploring issues of consent, but at its core, the fallout of a relationship. It was pre-empted by Vintage in the major deal in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US, and will be published in February 2024. You can read more in The Bookseller here.

When mixed race lawyer Jade is preyed upon by her boss at a work event, she ends up drinking way too much, leaving her colleague Josh, her knight in shining armour, to come to the rescue. He insists on helping her home, the perfect gentleman – bundling them both into a cab and walking her to the door. But suddenly Josh is inviting himself in, slipping Jade’s shoes off, helping himself to wine, moving her to the bedroom. Everything after that is a blank.  

Jade wakes the next morning, naked and alone, with no memory of how she got home. Too afraid to talk to Josh or open up to long term boyfriend Alex, she throws herself into work, ignoring the office rumours, drinking to oblivion, and working 90-hour weeks. It’s only after a series of debilitating flashbacks that Jade starts to unravel the truth. But a woman’s indignity is so mass market and accused of “crying rape” by Josh, it’s a slippery slope. But Jade isn’t going down alone.

Ela Lee is a London-based author. She studied Law at the University of Oxford and previously practised as a City lawyer. During the pandemic, Ela decided to focus on her love of writing and began work on her debut novel. Ela is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

In Her Defence

IN HER DEFENCE follows the libel trial of TV personality, household name and ceramics entrepreneur, Anna Finbow, whose daughter Mary has cut off all contact with the family. After Anna accuses her daughter’s therapist of being behind the split in her newspaper column, the publicity is overwhelming, and a legal summons swiftly follows.

Mary is adamant that her childhood was abusive, whereas Anna believes the therapist is a charlatan preying on her daughter’s trust fund. Watching it all is young sculptor Augusta (Gus), Anna’s dogwalker – who has her own reasons for inveigling her way into Anna’s life…

Moving between Stoke on Trent and Rome, this is a beautifully written, page-turning novel about identity, love, and obsession.

Philippa Malicka was born in Essex and lives in London after a stint in India working in publishing. She studied English at Oxford University and went on to complete the Prose Fiction MA at the University of East Anglia. The novel was longlisted for the Bridport First Novel Award. Her non-fiction has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and Grazia. Philippa is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.