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A 27-year-old author from York has won independent publisher Route's competition to find a debut novelist.
Sophie Coulombeau's novel, provisionally titled Rites, will be published by Route next summer. The competition, supported by Arts Council England, was aimed at aspiring authors aged between 18-30 and living in Yorkshire.
Route editor Ian Daley said: "We are thrilled to be publishing this book and to be working with Sophie. She's a great talent, with an exciting future in front of her. The book manages to have that rare combination of being both richly complex and a riveting read. The pages simply turn themselves.
"I'm confident that this is the first of many great books that Sophie will produce."
Rites follows four teenagers who make a pact to lose their virginity. Ten years later they look back on the events and unravel how it all went horribly wrong.
Victoria Price and Rebecca Pedley also won places on a mentoring programme at Route and will work on Coulombeau's novel to publication.