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Zaffre, the flagship adult fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired Emily Critchley’s adult début novel One Puzzling Afternoon and one other novel.
Sophie Orme, publishing director for Zaffre and Manilla Press, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to the two titles from Hayley Steed of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. US rights have been sold to Sourcebooks.
One Puzzling Afternoon will be published in hardback, e-book, and audio in May 2023 by Zaffre. Sourcebooks will publish in the US in autumn 2023.
Described by the publisher as a “captivating reading group novel”, One Puzzling Afternoon follows 84-year-old Edie Green, who – facing dementia – must look back into the past to discover what happened to her school friend Lucy, who went missing more than 60 years ago.
Critchley, whose YA début Notes on my Family (Everything with Words, 2017) was nominated for the Carnegie, longlisted for the Branford Boase, and was book of the week in the Sunday Times, said: “It’s an honour to be publishing my novel with Bonnier Books UK and I feel incredibly grateful to be working with Sophie and such a supportive and creative team.
“Edie’s story has been close to my heart for some time now and I’m delighted to be able to share it with readers. I hope she charms them as much as she did me, and that readers will experience the same escapism I enjoyed when writing. I owe a huge thank you to my agent, Hayley Steed, for finding me the perfect publisher and for believing in the book every step of the way.”
Orme said she was “completely captivated by One Puzzling Afternoon”. “As well as creating an atmospheric, page-turning small-town mystery, Emily Critchley writes so beautifully, with such compassion and warmth, about ageing. Fans of Joanna Cannon (A Tidy Ending, The Borough Press) and Elizabeth is Missing (Viking) will love this,” she said.
Emily’s agent Hayley Steed also commented: “I’m delighted that Emily’s début adult novel has found such a wonderful home with Sophie and Bonnier Books UK. The voice of Edie had me captured from the very first page, and it’s a beautiful story, rich with heart-wrenching tenderness and a gripping mystery at its heart.”