Books in the Media
The past week saw lots of our amazing authors in the media...
Andrea Stewart was interviewed by Goldie Chan for Forbes about her path through publishing and upcoming projects she’s working on!
When asked what has been her favourite project she’s worked on, Andrea responded:
“I feel like it’s always the most recent thing I’ve written! But it holds true in this case for a few different reasons. I just finished up the final book in my trilogy, and I really do feel like it’s my best work. I love writing endings, and I know it’s truly where my strengths show. I’ve spent three books setting things up, moving the pieces into place, and getting to write the conclusion to all of that, to have everything come full circle—it’s just a lovely feeling! The characters have changed so much over the course of the series and at the end I get to leave them at the mercy of the readers’ imaginations.” We love that answer!
THE DAUGHTERS OF MADURAI by Rajasree Variyar has been reviewed by Publishers Weekly who call it a “wrenching debut,” and write that “the complex mother-daughter story will move readers.”
About THE DAUGHTERS OF MADURAI:
Madurai, 1992. A young mother in a poor family, Janani is told she is useless if she can’t produce a son – or worse, bears daughters. They let her keep her first baby girl, but the rest are taken away as soon as they are born – murdered before they have a chance to live. The fate of her children has never been in her hands. But Janani can’t forget the daughters she was never allowed to love.
Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret, one she’s been keeping from her parents for far too long. Before she can say anything, her grandfather in India falls ill and she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai – the first in over ten years. Growing up in Australia, Nila knows very little about where she or her family came from, or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever…
Perfect for fans of Christy Lefteri and Delia Owens, The Daughters of Madurai is a moving and powerful debut from an unforgettable new voice.
We are delighted that Claire Alexander’s MEREDITH, ALONE has been picked by Woman&Home as one of their 2023 Book Club Award Winners! The magazine writes that “This moving story tackles difficult subjects, and unfolds beautifully and sensitively.” Congratulations, Claire!
About MEREDITH, ALONE:
Meredith Maggs hasn't left her house in 1,214 days. But she insists she isn't alone.
She has her cat, Fred. Her friend Sadie visits when she can. There's her online support group, StrengthInNumbers. She has her jigsaws, favourite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson, the internet, the Tesco delivery man and her treacherous memories for company.
But something's about to change.
First, new friends Tom and Celeste burst into her life. Then an estranged sister she hasn't spoken to in years. Suddenly her carefully curated home is no longer a safe place to hide.
Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world is coming to her door . . .
THE CLOCKWORK GIRL by Anna Mazzola is The Sunday Times’ ‘Paperback of the Week’! Nick Rennison calls it “an atmospheric and constantly surprising thriller”. We’re so pleased for Anna!
About THE CLOCKWORK GIRL:
Paris, 1750. In the midst of an icy winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, chambermaid Madeleine Chastel arrives at the home of the city's celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter.
Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose: to discover the truth of the clockmaker's experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.
For as children quietly vanish from the Parisian streets, rumours are swirling that the clockmaker's intricate mechanical creations, bejewelled birds and silver spiders, are more than they seem.
And soon Madeleine fears that she has stumbled upon an even greater conspiracy. One which might reach to the very heart of Versailles...
A intoxicating story of obsession, illusion and the price of freedom.
Stacey Thomas has written a piece for Bad Form Magazine on the pressure for Black and Brown authors to write historical fiction related to their racial or ethnic identities. Stacey notes that while it’s positive more writers from minority backgrounds are being published in this space, publishing “needs to continue to be more inclusive with more casual representation in novels regardless of genre so that readers see themselves represents” and more novelists are “led by their own interests and research”, rather than by a sense of responsibility to write about untold histories from their background. It’s a fantastic article and we’d highly recommend giving it a read.
Richard Osman has had lots of lovely mentions in the press recently! Washington Post has named THE BULLET THAT MISSED one of their ‘Best Thriller and Mystery Novels of 2022’, as well as one of their ‘Top 10 Best Audiobooks of 2022’.
According to Goodreads reviews, THE BULLET THAT MISSED is one of their 'Top 20 Mystery and Thriller Books of 2022'! The books on this list were all published in 2022 and were ranked by a combination of how many reviews they have and how highly they were rated.
In an interview with Los Angeles Review of Books, when asked what books they like to read for fun, R.L.Stine mentions Richard Osman’s THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES: “I like old British mysteries. And I’ve been reading this guy Richard Osman. He’s writing this series called The Thursday Murder Club. A couple of books, they’re very entertaining. Very good books. The second one’s called The Man Who Died Twice. It’s even better than the first one.”
Crime Reads has published an article on ‘The New Seniors of Crime Fiction, on Page and Screen’ which describes THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB series as a “meticulously imagined world of a quarter of murder-obsessed retirees” that “is set to have enough cultural staying power to rival some of the Golden Age greats”. In another article entitled ‘11 Mysteries and Thrillers That Are So. Much. Fun.’, Molly Odintz calls THE BULLET THAT MISSED “A hilarious, gripping new tale, it is worth waiting for, and not to be missed!” What lovely praise!