Orion pre-empts debut in 48-hour, six figure deal

In a 48-hour six-figure pre-empt, Francesca Main has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in TO FILL A YELLOW HOUSE and a second novel by award-nominated British-Ghanaian author Sussie Anie, from Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment. TO FILL A YELLOW HOUSE will be a lead title for Main’s new imprint at Orion, the name, logo and launch titles for which will be announced in September. The debut marks the first book the editor and agent have shared since Jessie Burton’s THE MINIATURIST. N American rights were acquired in a six-figure deal, at auction, by Katherine Nintzel at Custom House, from Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency, on behalf of Juliet Mushens. 

Hailed by Orion as this generation’s BRICK LANE or WHITE TEETH, TO FILL A YELLOW HOUSE is the story of an unlikely friendship between a young second-generation immigrant, Kwasi, and the white middle-aged owner of a local charity shop. 

The British high street is dying, and with it Rupert’s shop, the Chest of Small Wonders, which he has run for decades. Most people won’t miss it. But for teenager Kwasi, the Chest is a refuge he can’t live without, where he finds respite from school bullies and his irrepressible aunties (who may or may not have overstayed their visas…). Rupert, too, finds solace in the shop; his home painfully empty since the death of his wife. As Kwasi and Rupert forge their friendship, political tensions escalate around them, and soon both face difficult choices that will force them to confront their prejudices. 

Set between the summer of 2008 and the eve of the EU referendum, TO FILL A YELLOW HOUSE is a timely, beautifully evocative and deeply moving story of identity, community and belonging, and of how we live now.

Sussie Anie lives in London, where she was born and grew up. After graduating with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Warwick, she completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she was a recipient of the 2018-19 Kowitz Scholarship. She was recently shortlisted for the White Review Short Story Prize 2020.