You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
W F Howes has acquired the audio rights for You Are Here, the forthcoming novel from bestselling author David Nicholls featuring actors Lydia Leonard and Lee Ingleby.
UK and Commonwealth audio rights were acquired from Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown by Habiba Sacranie, senior acquisitions editor at W F Howes.
Scheduled for publication on 23rd April to coincide with Sceptre’s print launch, this will be the sixth collaboration between Nicholls and RBmedia’s UK publishing brand, which has been the audio publisher for all of the author’s work.
In addition to You Are Here, W F Howes will be working closely with Nicholls to launch a special 2024 audio edition of One Day to coincide with the recent premiere of the Netflix series.
Leonard, who starred in shows such as “The Crown”, “Ten Percent” and in the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s “Bring Up the Bodies”, will team up with Ingleby who is known for shows such as “The A Word” and “Inspector George Gently”. They will narrate the audiobook and play its two lead characters, Marnie and Michael.
The novel follows the stories of two lost souls who are thrown together on an epic coast-to-coast walk and explores if their blossoming friendship can survive the journey.
Nicholls said: “You Are Here is a love story in a classic style, a chamber piece that happens to take place on an epic journey from the west to east coast through the Lakes, the Dales and the Moors. It is, I hope, funny and touching, shifting between moods like the burgeoning friendship between Marnie and Michael. I’ve always loved writing dialogue and this book is all about conversation. I can’t wait to see it come to life in audio, a format where I think it will find a natural home.
“Working with the W F Howes team all these years, we have developed a brilliant rapport and mutual understanding—and I am particularly delighted with our casting of Lydia and Lee, who will perfectly embody Michael and Marnie and lift them from the page.”
Dominic White, W F Howes’ publishing director, said: “David is a national treasure and one of the biggest success stories in modern-day publishing, so it is an absolute pleasure to be his audiobook publisher of choice and to play such an integral role in his inspirational story.
“Written in David’s trademark style, with plenty of wit, empathy and emotion—which lends itself perfectly to the audio format—You Are Here is an absolute triumph and is already the most talked-about novel coming out this spring.”