Laura Palmer at Head of Zeus won UK & Commonwealth (ex. Canada) rights in a two book deal for Aliya Ali-Afzal’s debut novel, Would I Lie To You? North American rights were then pre-empted by Grand Central.

Would I Lie to You? follows Faiza, whose husband insists they can live off their emergency savings after he’s lost his job. But Faiza knows that’s impossible: she’s spent all of the money. Faiza must replenish the savings before he finds out. 

Palmer said, “This is just the king of novel I adore - the prose is sparkling, the observations funny and wry, and the plot is so gripping the pages turn themselves. But most of all I loved Faiza, whose resourcefulness, pluck and lover for her family shines through everything she does. I know readers will love her too.”

Ali-Afzal said, “I am so happy and excited about working with Laura. I was thrilled at the way she connected with Faiza and had such affection for her. The passion, energy and enthusiasm of the whole team absolutely won me over. My brilliant agent, Juliet, has been such a great support at every single step of this journey and has found the perfect home for my work,”

Head of Zeus will publish the novel in September 2021.