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Serpent's Tail has snapped up A Good House for Children, the "sinister, compulsive" debut by Irish novelist Kate Collins.
Editor Leonora Craig Cohen acquired world English-language rights, including audio, for the novel from Hayley Steed at Madeleine Millburn Literary Agency. Serpent’s Tail will publish A Good House for Children in April 2023.
Described as a "chilling, contemporary gothic novel", the story follows Orla, whose husband insists the Reeve, a grand but dilapidated house on the edge of the Dorset cliffs, will be a perfect place to raise their son and daughter. Forty years earlier, Lydia moves to Dorset with the wealthy family she nannies for, a household grieving the recent loss of their patriarch. Sleeping up in a distant attic room, Lydia begins to hear and feel things that cannot possibly be real. Both Orla and Lydia come to realise that the Reeve is a house which needs a lot of attention from its occupants, and sometimes it needs more even than that.
"A Good House for Children will entrance and terrify fans of Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney (John Murray) and Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions (Raven) and introduces a dazzling new talent to the UK literary horror scene," the synopsis states.
Cohen said: "I was hooked straight away by the pervasive sense of dread in this novel; the Reeve is a fascinating and horrible character in its own right and I’m so excited to have acquired this sinister, compulsive novel. Collins uses folk horror in her own fantastically inventive way to explore motherhood, sacrifice and duty."
Collins has spent her career in trade and academic publishing. She studied literature and medieval history at Lancaster University and went on to complete an MA in contemporary literature, specialising in the novels of John Irving.
Commenting on her debut, she said: "I'm so thrilled to be working with Serpent's Tail and my brilliant editor, Leonora, who completely understood my vision for A Good House for Children and together we've made it something special and unexpected. Serpent's Tail is a visionary publisher with an incredible list, and I'm honoured to be publishing my debut novel with them. I'm indebted to my wonderful agent, Hayley, for finding this novel the perfect home."