The Borough Press has pre-empted two historical novels by Saara El-Arifi

Editor Suzie Dooré has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to Cleopatra and The Queen of Sheba in a “significant” deal with Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment. The first book is scheduled for 2025.

Cleopatra will retell the story of Egypt’s most famous queen. It opens at the moment she discovers that her father has died and she is Pharaoh.

For The Bookseller, Saara commented: “I’m overjoyed that I get to bring my rendition of Cleopatra to the page, interweaving history and myth in a fresh interpretation of the last Pharaoh of Egypt. That I get to do it at The Borough Press and with Suzie Dooré at my side promises readers something truly magical.”

Suzie said: “I have obviously long admired Saara’s previous novels on our sister imprint, HarperVoyager, so I almost bit Juliet’s hand off when she first mentioned this new direction for her – I can’t imagine a more perfect combination of novelist and subject. The world needs a fictionalised retelling of the life of this beyond-iconic woman from a female writer of colour, especially one with Saara’s unique storytelling abilities. Even the opening line gave me goosebumps – this book will become the definitive fictional work about Cleopatra.”