Ken Follett re-ups with Hachette for a new global deal

The Pillars of the Earth author Ken Follett has signed another global English-language rights deal with Hachette UK and Hachette Book Group for his next novel, The Deep and Secret Things. Ben Sevier, president and publisher of HBG’s Grand Central, and Nick Davies, MD of Hachette UK’s Quercus, acquired US and Canada rights and UK and Commonwealth rights respectively, directly from The Follett Office. The new novel will be published worldwide on 21st September 2027.

Follett had previously moved to Hachette after leaving his long-time publishers Pan Macmillan (UK) and Penguin (US). So far, deals have also been made for translation rights in Denmark (Gyldendal), France (Robert Laffont), Germany (Bastei Lübbe), Italy (Mondadori), the Netherlands (Meulenhoff Boekerij), Portugal (Editorial Presença) and Spain (PRH Grupo Editorial).

The Deep and Secret Things is a "tale of family, religion, greed and ambition" set during the Victorian age. It follows Helena Bowen, a young noblewoman, who longs to study science – a wish that society denies her. She meets the Lewellyn family, Quakers who run a successful wheel-making business but lead a life of simplicity. Their son Lloyd Lewellyn epitomises these values but Helena falls under the spell of their charming and ambitious cousin Johnnie. But then "a young teacher in the village falls pregnant with his child, and Johnnie, [after making] an embarrassing and detrimental mistake in the company’s accounts, runs away to London".

Follett said: “I love stories set in the Victorian era because of the shocking contrasts. Britain was richer than any country had ever been, but the London slums were places of grim poverty. Moral rules were strict, but rich men had mistresses and destitute women turned, in desperation, to prostitution. Dresses were gorgeous and parties were lavish, but the children of the poor started work at the age of seven. The Deep and Secret Things is about four characters who dangerously cross boundaries and live the lives they believe in – for better or worse.”