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Welbeck has snapped up a "heart-wrenching" novel from Charlene Carr in a two-book deal.
Welbeck has snapped up a "heart-wrenching" novel from Charlene Carr in a two-book deal.
Rachel Hart, assistant editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada for Hold My Girl at auction from Hayley Steed at The Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. It will be a lead 2023 hardback for Welbeck and is Hart's first acquisition for the publisher.
The novel will also be published by HarperCollins Canada, which acquired the rights in a six-figure pre-empt, while TV rights were bought by Blink Studios in a competitive auction, to be executive produced by Carolyn Newman and Virginia Rankin for Blink together with producer Michael London and Shannon Gaulding of Groundswell Productions. The deal was brokered by Hannah Ladds at Madeleine Milburn Agency.
Hold My Girl is described as "a tense and emotional dual narrative novel about motherhood, racial identity, loss and betrayal". Following an egg switch at a fertility clinic, one woman has been raising the wrong daughter, while the other has spent a year grieving a child that wasn’t hers. Centred around the custody trial for the remaining child, the premise was inspired by the author’s own fear that — as a Black woman who gave birth to a visibly white child via IVF — she would one day receive a call saying her daughter wasn’t hers.
Hart said: “Fans of Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty will love Hold My Girl’s compelling and insightful observations of family dynamics and what it means to be a mother. I’m thrilled to be working with Charlene and Hayley on this brilliant book.”
Carr said: "Rachel’s enthusiasm for Hold My Girl and its huge moral question is thrilling. Her vision for the book aligns perfectly with my own, and as I learned more about Welbeck, its approach and strategy to publishing, my excitement grew. I couldn’t be happier to have Welbeck as the UK home for this story. To have an editor with Iris’ taste and reputation so interested in my work is a huge honour. I know she’s going to help make this and my next book the absolute best they can be. As if that weren’t enough, signing with HarperCollins Canada is an absolute dream come true.”
Steed added: “I read Hold My Girl in one breathless sitting and it completely swept me away. It’s a gripping escapist read which constantly pulls you back and forth, and Charlene explores difficult topics with deft compassion, nuance and warmth. It’s a novel that will drive book club discussion into the early hours and I’ve been delighted to see such an excited response across the globe with Iris and Rachel at the publishing helm. I can’t wait to see it brought to life on screen with Blink Studios too.”