Manilla Press snaps up Stacey Halls’ ‘most contemporary’ novel The Sitting Tenant
Manilla Press has acquired The Sitting Tenant, the new novel from Stacey Halls, in a two-book deal.
Sophie Orme, publisher at Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment. The Sitting Tenant will publish in hardback, e-book and audio in spring 2027.
The press release describes the book as “an unsettling, utterly compulsive exploration of motherhood, secrets and lies”. The synopsis says: “Set in 1960, this is the story of newlyweds Celia and Gregory Ringrose, who buy their first home in Hampstead’s exclusive Vale of Health. But the house comes with a catch: a sitting tenant called Blythe Morris, who has lived in the house for years and can’t be evicted. When the Ringroses’ baby arrives, Celia comes to rely increasingly on Miss Morris, until, it seems, she cannot do without her. But who really is this woman who is living in their house, looking after their baby, and what does she want?”
Orme said: “I’m so excited to publish what I believe is her most compulsively gripping, unsettling and thought-provoking novel to date. The Sitting Tenant put me in mind of the very best of Sarah Waters’ novels and I absolutely cannot wait to share it with readers.”
Halls added: “This novel arrived in a bit of a fever dream. I wanted to write about the miracle and shock of motherhood, the extremity of those early weeks and months and the convention and agency of women in the mid 20th century. The Sitting Tenant feels like a departure from anything I’ve done before while also being deeply familiar, and I can’t wait to share it. Bonnier is the perfect home for my books and I’m thrilled to still be working with my editor Sophie after almost a decade.”
Mushens added: “Stacey Halls goes from strength to strength with her writing, and in this depiction of the intense relationship between two women within a claustrophobic household, she shows again her gift for a page-turning plot, and deft and astute character work. We love working with Bonnier and Manilla Press and I’m excited to see this published.”
