Bloomsbury acquires A SLOW PASSION by Ruth Brooks
Richard Atkinson at Bloomsbury has acquired World rights in Ruth Brooks' A SLOW PASSION: SNAILS, MY GARDEN AND ME after a lively auction run by Laetitia Rutherford at Mulcahy Conway Associates.
A SLOW PASSION is a stirring and witty piece of nature writing about snails, and the role they play in our understanding of local ecosystems, combined with a beautifully written gardening memoir. Ruth Brooks is a life-long gardener and recent winner of the BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year Award for her original research into the homing instinct of snails. Brooks discovered that snails can find their way home from distances of 100 metres - a useful piece of knowledge when deciding whether to throw them over the neighbours' fence, or take them to another habitat to protect your seedlings and flowers.
Ruth Brooks' research received national media coverage, and revealed a heated debate at the heart of one of the nation's favourite pastimes.
Atkinson said: "I'm completely thrilled to be publishing A SLOW PASSION. At Bloomsbury, we were all charmed by the way that Ruth Brooks manages to combine rigorous science with her nostalgic memoir. We also recognised the broad appeal of the subject - after all, anyone who has ever been a gardener has an opinion about snails - and believe that her book should help recalibrate the nation's slightly dysfunctional relationship with these intriguing gastropods."
Bloomsbury will publish as a hardback for Spring 2013 and expect wide media and festival appearances.
Voyages of the Princess Matilda by Shane Spall sold to Ebury
Jake Lingwood at Ebury acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Shane Spall's travel memoir Voyages of the Princess Matlida in a two-book six-figure pre-empt from agent Laetitia Rutherford. The author will co-promote with her husband, actor Timothy Spall.
Frog Princess to Michael Joseph
Former beauty queen Angie Beasley's warm-heartened rags-to-riches memoir, The Frog Princess, has been acquired by Daniel Bunyard at Michael Joseph from Laetitia Rutherford at Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd.
Guard a Silver Sixpence to Macmaillan in overnight pre-empt
Ingrid Connell at Macmillan won an auction handled by Jonathan Conway at Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd. for UK rights to Guard a Silver Sixpence, a nostalgic family memoir by Felicity Davis. Guard a Silver Sixpence is an inspirational memoir containing a social history of the author's native Yorkshire and an historical crime element, which will appeal to those who love The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher.
Celebrity Masterchef winner Lisa Faulkner to Simon & Schuster
In a six-figure auction, Jonathan Conway sold world rights to Celebrity Masterchef winner Lisa Faulkner in a two-book deal with Francine Laurence at Simon & Schuster. The first book will be a collection of recipes for great tasting home-cooked food as well as the story of her lifelong love of cookery, of how this love affair started, and why cookery remains her greatest passion.
Freddie Mercury to Hodder
World rights to award-winning rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones's new edition of FREDDIE MERCURY: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY were acquired by Hannah Black at Hodder & Stoughton for high five figures at auction. Publication will coincide with the new film about Freddie Mercury starring Sasha Baron-Cohen and scripted by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Other Boleyn Girl).
Simon & Schuster acquires The Painted Bridge
Francesca Main at Simon & Schuster UK and Samantha Martin at Scribner (S&S) USA acquired, for six figures at simultaneous auctions between UK and US publishers, World English Language rights to Wendy Wallace's historical novel The Painted Bridge. The book is co-agented by Ivan Mulcahy and Laetitia Rutherford. Italian rights were pre-empted by Mariagiulia Castagnone, Editorial Director of Piemme. Set in the mid-nineteenth century, as superstitions collide with a new scientific understanding, THE PAINTED BRIDGE is a powerful story of a woman's self-discovery, and the search for the truth in a world where the line between madness and sanity seems ever finer.
© Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd, 2012
