Curtis Brown Australia RIGHTS NEWSLETTER February/March ADULT 2014

Curtis Brown Australia March 2014

books for adults

Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd | Literary Agents PO Box 19 | Paddington NSW 2021 | Australia T: [61 2] 9361 6161 | F: [61 2] 9360 3935 E: laura@curtisbrown.com.au | W: www.curtisbrown.com.au

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fiction

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BURIAL RITES Hannah Kent

Publisher: Picador Australia Genre: Literary fiction Pub date: May 2013 Format: Hardback / Paperback Rights available: Translation Rights sold: ANZ (Picador), North America (Little, Brown), UK/C’wealth (Picador), Chinese complex (China Times), Croatian (Znanje), Czech (Fortuna), Danish (Forlaget Hetland), Dutch (Cargo), Estonian (Futu Print), French (Presses De La Cite), German (Droemer), Greek (Ikaros Publishing Company), Hebrew (Armchair), Icelandic (Lesbok), Italian (Piemme), Norwegian (Schibsted), Polish (Proszynski Media), Portuguese –Brazil (Globo), Portuguese – Portugal (Saida de Emergencia), Serbian (Laguna), Slovak (Fortuna), Spanish (Alba), Swedish (Damm), Turkish (Yapi Kredi Yayinlari), Russian (A-Team Pro) Page extent: 338 pp

‘With language flickering, sparkling and flashing like exercise in artful literary fiction’ Kirkus (starred review)

the northern lights … a magical

‘Hannah Kent’s gorgeous and haunting Burial Rites will author of The Lifeboat

touch your heart.’ Charlotte Rogan,

‘A compelling read, heart-breaking and uplifting in equal Hungry Ghosts

measure.’ Anne Berry, author of The

’Here is an original new voice, with a deep and lovely grasp of language and story…an accomplished gem, its prose as crisp and sparkling as its northern setting.’ Geraldine Brooks ‘So gripping I wanted to rush through the pages, but so beautifully written I wanted to linger over every sentence.’ Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. Riveting and rich with lyricism, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

About the Author: Hannah Kent won the 2011 Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award for her manuscript Burial Rites, and was mentored by Geraldine Brooks. She is the co-founder and deputy editor of Australian literary journal Kill Your Darlings, and teaches Creative Writing and English at Flinders University, where she is also completing her PhD. In 2011 she was a judge of Melbourne University/The Australian Centre’s Peter Blazey Fellowship for Life Writing. Her creative and critical writing has appeared in The Big Issue, Australian Book Review, The Wheeler Centre, Kill Your Darlings and Voiceworks, amongst others. www.hannahkentauthor.com

3 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE HUSBAND’S SECRET Liane Moriarty

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia, Penguin UK, Amy Einhorn/Penguin US Genre: Commercial women’s fiction Pub date: April 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: Translation, Audio Rights sold: Film/TV (CBS), UK (Michael Joseph/Penguin), North America (Amy Einhorn/Penguin), Bulgarian (Hermes Publishing House), Chinese Complex (Fantasy Foundation), Croatian (Mozaik Knjiga), Czech (Euromedia Group), Danish (Politikens Forlag), Dutch (Orlando Uitgevers), Finnish (WSOY), French (Editions Albin Michel), German (Luebbe Verlag), Greek (Psichogios Publ Co Greece), Hebrew (Kinneret Publishing House), Hungarian (Pionee Books), Italian (Mondadori Arnoldo), Korean, Latvian (Kontinents), Lithuanian (Alma Littera Publishers), Macedonian (Sakam Knigi), Norwegian (Pantagruel Forlag AS), Polish (Proszynkski I S-Ka), Portuguese - Portugal (ASA Edicoes), Portuguese – Brazil (Editora Intrinseca), Romanian (Editura Trei), Russian (Atticus Publishing Group), Serbian (Vulkan Publishing), Slovak (Ikar), Slovene (Ucila International), Spanish (Suma de Letras), Swedish (Albert Bonniers Forlag), Turkish (Neo Kitap), Vietnamese Page extent: 408 pp ‘Simultaneously a page-turner and a book one has to put down occasionally to think about and absorb, Moriarty’s novel challenges the reader as well as her characters, but in the best possible way’ Publisher’s Weekly ***STOP PRESS: The New York Times #1 bestseller…film rights acquired by CBS Films….*** ‘A novel that’s perfect for vacation reading: There’s humour, suspense, a circle of appealing women whose dilemma intersect with Cecilia’s and enough food for thought to keep you from feeling empty afterward.’ People ‘Shocking, complex and thought-provoking, this is a story reading groups will devour. A knockout!’ Emily Giffin, New York Times-bestselling author ‘Liane Moriarty is far more than the skilful writer of potboilers. Her compelling characters could be your friends and neighbours, nice and neurotic in equal doses. . . . Amid three intertwined story lines and terrific plot twists, Moriarty presents a nuanced and moving portrait of the meaning of love, both marital and familial, and how life can hinge on a misunderstanding or a decision made in haste. The Husband’s Secret is so good, you won’t be able to keep it to yourself.’ USA Today ’Secrets can be sinister; they can eat you alive. But they can also set you free. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty demonstrates this power with one of the most entertaining stories I have read in ages. Perfect for book clubs – lots to debate in these pages. I just loved it.’ Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times-bestselling author of The Last Original Wife ‘Moriarty may be an edgier, more provocative and bolder successor to Maeve Binchy.’

Kirkus Reviews, starred review About the Author: Liane Moriarty is the author of Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot and The Hypnotist’s Love Story. All of her novels have been published successfully around the world and translated into seven languages. Writing as L.M. Moriarty, she is also the author of the Space Brigade series for children. Liane lives in Sydney with her husband, son and daughter. www.lianemoriarty.com 4 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE WILD GIRL Kate Forsyth

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Historical fiction Pub date: March 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: UK (Allison & Busby), US (Thomas Dunne/St Martins) Page extent: 560 pp

One of the great untold love stories – how the Grimm brothers discovered their famous fairy tales, filled with drama and passion A beautiful and dramatic love story which weaves the story of Dortchen Wild, the girl who loved Wilhelm Grimm, with the fairy tales she told him – some of the most powerful and compelling stories in the famous fairytale collection. Dortchen can only hope that happy endings are not just the stuff of fairy tales … Set in a time of war and revolution, this is a story filled with passion, grief, thwarted desire and joy.

Praise for THE WILD GIRL: ‘Like a fairytale, The Wild Girl gives us an explosive and evocative set of truths set within a deceptively simple and delicately written story.’ Newtown Review of Books BITTER GREENS (Random House Australia, 2012) An exquisite rendering of the story behind the Rapunzel fairy tale and a story of desire, obsession, black magic and the redemptive power of love.

‘History and fairytale are richly entwined to form this spellbinding story.’

Juliet Marillier ‘A must for all lovers of historical fiction. Philippa Gregory, watch out!’

Pamela Freeman ‘Skilfully weaving a delicious, disturbing, multi-coloured story, Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens grippingly brings to life a world of magic, corruption, cruelty, and love.’

Sophie Masson ‘a rich and lively story, presenting historical realities that seem fantastical, and fantastical elements that feel real.’ Margo Lanagan Page extent: 576 pp Rights sold: ANZ, UK, Russia (Hemiro), Latvia (Kontinents), US (Thomas Dunne/St Martins) About the Author: Kate Forsyth is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books, including The Witches of Eileanan and Rhiannon’s Ride series for adults, and The Puzzle Ring, The Gypsy Crown, and The Starthorn Tree for children. She has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including Best First Novel and a CYBIL Award in the US, five Aurealis Awards, and a CBCA Notable Book.

Her books have been published in 13 different countries, including Japan, Poland, Spain and Turkey, and Kate is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology. Kate is a direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia, A Mother’s Offering to her Children. www.kateforsyth.com.au

5 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE BELOVED Annah Faulkner

Publisher: Picador / Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: July 2012 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 332 pp

‘It came one morning with the milk, and it seemed – at first – almost as innocent...’

When Roberta ‘Bertie’ Lightfoot is struck down with polio, her world collapses. But Mama doesn’t tolerate self-pity, and Bertie is nobody if not her mother’s daughter – until she sets her heart on becoming an artist. Through drawing, the gifted and perceptive Bertie gives form and voice to the reality of the people and the world around her. While her father is happy enough to indulge Bertie’s driving passion, her mother will not let art get in the way of the future she wishes for her only daughter.

In 1955 the family moves to post-colonial Port Moresby, a sometimes violent frontier town, where Bertie, determined to be the master of her own life canvas, rebels against her mother’s strict control. In this tropical landscape, Bertie thrives amid the lush pallette of colours and abundance, secretly learning the techniques of drawing and painting under the tutelage of her mother’s arch rival. But Roberta is not the only one deceiving her family. As secrets come to light, the domestic varnish starts to crack, and jealousy and passion threaten to forever mar the relationship between mother and daughter.

Tender and witty, The Beloved is a moving debut novel which paints a vivid portrait of both the beauty and the burden of unconditional love.

SHORTLISTED – Miles Franklin Award 2013 WINNER – Queensland Premier's Literary Award for an Emerging Queensland Author 2011 WINNER – Kibble Literary Award for an established author 2013 COMMENDED – FAW Christina Stead Award 2013 ‘A vivid, visual novel. Within its pages, art’s presence and absence represents volatile, destructive and creative forces. It is used to create a sharply defined portrait of mother love misplaced but also shows how love is an emotional state we cannot necessarily choose nor escape from. For all that seriousness, Faulkner has a light touch and her debut novel has as many moments of joy as it does of sadness’ The Hoopla ’..highly charged and gripping… ‘ Australian Book Review ‘A beautifully crafted novel and a master class in drawing, painting and the art of living.’

The West Australian ‘The Beloved is a deceptively easy and well-paced read, with passages of heart-stopping prose, but dense with notions around the battle between art and life and the fraught bonds of blood.’ The Griffith Review About the Author: Annah Faulkner and her husband live on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and spend extended time in the South Island of New Zealand. She is presently working on her second novel. At age 5, Annah and her family moved to Port Moresby, and the setting of The Beloved is informed by her experiences growing up there.

6 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

IN FALLING SNOW Mary-Rose MacColl

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub Date: October 2012 Format: Paperback Rights available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: North America (Penguin), UK (Allison & Busby), Latvian (Apgads Zvaigzne) Page extent: 448 pp

‘Women as healers, family secrets, medical mysteries, historical setting – call the producers of Call the Midwife.’ Booklist Iris Crane’s tranquil life is shattered when a letter summons memories from her bittersweet past: her first love, her best friend, and the tragedy that changed everything. Iris, a young Australian nurse, travels to France during World War I to bring home her fifteen-year-old brother, who ran away to enlist. But in Paris she meets the charismatic Dr. Frances Ivens, who convinces Iris to help establish a field hospital in the old abbey at Royaumont, staffed entirely by women—a decision that will change her life. Seamlessly interwoven is the story of Grace, Iris’s granddaughter in 1970s Australia. Together their narratives paint a portrait of the changing role of women in medicine and the powerful legacy of love.

Praise for IN FALLING SNOW: ‘At once chilling yet strangely beautiful... MacColl’s narrative is fortified by impeccable research and her innate ability to create a powerful bond between readers and characters. Well done.’ Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ‘An epic tale of love, heartache, and a sisterhood created by nursing in a time of war, In Falling Snow is one of those novels you will want to read again.’ Michelle Moran, bestselling author of Cleopatra’s Daughter ’From past to present, Australia to France, MacColl guides readers through unknown lands abroad and territories of the heart. For readers, like me, who love to see history’s forgotten heroes given powerful voice, you will delight in this novel.’ Sarah McCoy, author of the international bestseller The Baker’s Daughter ‘... a story of love, ultimately, and a woman whose life has sought to atone for a mistake she hardly knew she made… At once perceptive and sympathetic, In Falling Snow beguiles, a tale of selflessness and youthful indiscretion as singular and seductive as one could hope for.’ Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling author of My Name Is Mary Sutter Find out more about the story of Miss Ivens and the Scottish women doctors here and how Mary-Rose came to write the novel here.

About the Author: Mary-Rose MacColl is an Australian writer with current interests in families, children and mountains. She spent most of 2011 working on In Falling Snow, her fourth novel, on a residency in Banff, Canada. Her first novel, No Safe Place, was runner-up in the 1995 Australian Vogel literary award and her first non-fiction book, The Birth Wars, was a finalist in the 2009 Walkley Awards. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and young son. mary-rosemaccoll.com

7 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

INTO MY ARMS Kylie Ladd

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Commercial Fiction Pub date: May 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 296 pp

The kiss ignited something, blew it into being, and afterwards, all Skye could think about was Ben. One day a woman meets a man and falls instantly and irrevocably in love with him. It hits her like a thunderbolt, and she has to have him, has to be with him, regardless of the cost, of the pain of breaking up her existing relationship. She has never felt more in synch – or in love – with anyone in her whole life. So this is how it feels, she thinks to herself, this is what real love feels like.

It’s like that for him too; he wants her in a way he’s never wanted anything or anyone before: obsessively, passionately, all-consumingly. She has found her one true love, her soul mate, and he has found his. What happens next will tear them apart and unleash havoc onto their worlds.

This brave, brilliant, electrifying novel from the acclaimed author of After the Fall and Last Summer, will move you deeply and shock you to your core. Love, lust and longing have rarely wielded such power, nor family secrets triggered such devastation.

Praise for Kylie Ladd’s LAST SUMMER ‘When I wasn’t reading it – when I was at work – I kept thinking I should text the characters to see how they were doing... they had become such a part of my life. This is a warm, wise, entertaining and somewhat life-changing book.’

Booktopia ‘An insightful, natural storyteller’ Woman’s Weekly Praise for Kylie Ladd’s AFTER THE FALL ‘Vivid language makes each page a joy to read.’ Kirkus ‘Starting an affair is like falling- there’s the initial thrilling sense of plunging, followed by out-of-control plummeting, and, inevitably, pain. That’s how author Kylie Ladd describes it in this story of a friendship between two couples that ends in an affair. Told from the perspective of each person, the book has a deliciously voyeuristic feel that will have you hooked.’ Cosmopolitan About the Author: Kylie Ladd is a freelance writer and clinical neuropsychologist whose work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Good Weekend, Sydney’s Child, Good Medicine, O magazine and a variety of parenting magazines and websites.

Her first book, Living with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias (Michelle Anderson Publishing) was published in 2007, while her second, a collection of essays about infidelity co-edited with Christine Langtree, called Naked, was published by Allen & Unwin. Kylie’s debut novel After the Fall was published by Allen & Unwin and Doubleday in the US in 2009, her second novel Last Summer was published in 2011, and Into My Arms in 2013 www.kylieladd.com.au 8 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE LOCAL WILDLIFE Robert Drewe

Publisher: Penguin Genre: Short stories Pub date: July 2013 Format: Hardback Rights available: World excl ANZ Page extent: 224 pp

Tall tales from Australia’s master of the short story Welcome to northern New South Wales, where the ‘local wildlife’ doesn’t just mean the native fauna, but the people as well. When Robert Drewe moved to this small community, he was expecting a few eccentrics and interesting animals – and he got them. Giant pythons, tantric brothels, green men, mail-order Russian brides, the mysterious Mullumbimby Monster and a disquisition on the drongo are all in a day’s work to him now.

Praise for THE LOCAL WILDLIFE: ‘This is life on the wry side. At its best it’s Somerset Maugham in Speedos and thongs. Acute, sardonic, but full of sprawl and ease… a fascinating sort of Australian Wunderkammer, a cabinet full to bursting with curios wild and weird, concisely described with a humour as dry as the season is damp.’ Sydney Morning Herald ‘…a book made from the basic materials of daily life. It shows Drewe knows his craft well enough to turn whatever he sees and hears into great stories that grab the reader’s shirtsleeves.’ The Australian ‘Abrupt, striking and curious’ The Guardian About the Author: Award-winning writer Robert Drewe’s novels and short stories have been widely translated, won many national and international prizes and been adapted for film, television, radio and the theatre. His memoir The Shark Net, was adapted as an ABC and BBC television miniseries. His 1996 novel The Drowner was short listed for all five Australian Premier’s Awards.

9 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

FROM ALICE WITH LOVE Jo Dutton

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Pub date: July 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 376 pp

A beautiful love story, and a thought-provoking novel set in the exotic red centre of Australia.

This thought-provoking outback romance tells the story of a woman leaving the city to return to Alice Springs, where she gradually finds fulfilment in life and love. Then complications intervene and threaten her happiness...

After the end of a long-term relationship, Alicia’s life is at a crossroads when news that her mother is critically ill takes her back to her childhood home of Alice Springs.

Though she hasn’t consciously intended to remain in central Australia, when Alicia is offered a job setting up a school on an indigenous outstation she decides to stay. Surrounded by the mesmerising beauty of the desert, Alicia takes charge of the new school, and though the challenges are substantial, she finds the work deeply fulfilling.

When Alicia meets Patrick through her work she’s instantly attracted to him. Patrick shares much of Alicia’s outlook on life and their relationship flourishes until they hit a crisis regarding their future together...

‘Dutton brings to life with a light touch her characters, white and black, and their relationships … Her responses to the country’s spaciousness, to the many and varied facets of its beauty, to its moods, its demands and challenges, are amongst the book’s most affecting passages’ Alice Springs News Praise for OUT OF PLACE ‘A fine book of women, landscapes and the tide of life’ Kate Grenville About the Author: Jo Dutton was born in Adelaide but spent her early childhood in the Solomon Islands. She now lives with her family in a large and chaotic household in Alice Springs in Central Australia. Jo’s debut novel On the Edge of Red was published by Transworld and her second novel, Out of Place, by Random House in Australia and Rowohlt in Germany.

10 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

WILL HARRIS THRILLERS BOOK 1: BLOOD WITNESS Alex Hammond

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Crime Fiction / Thriller Pub date: July 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio, (UK/C’wealth via Penguin Australia) Page extent: 344 pp

One man’s search for justice and redemption plunges him into the violent world of Melbourne’s underbelly – a dark and powerful thriller from a talented new voice.

Defence lawyer Will Harris is reluctantly drawn into a bizarre murder trial. A terminally ill man claims to have witnessed the brutal crime – in a vision. But the looming trial is more than just a media circus: it’s Will’s first big case since the tragic death of his fiancée. With the pressure mounting, Will’s loyalties are split when his fiancée’s sister is charged with drug trafficking. The strain of balancing both cases takes its toll and Will finds himself torn between following the law and seeking justice.

Praise for BLOOD WITNESS: ‘a slick, fast-paced legal thriller set in Melbourne but with a genuine international flavour and with enough twists to surprise even the most avid fans of the genre’ The West Australian ‘the most compelling aspect of the book is the legal one with its debate about the relationship between the law and justice and its insider knowledge of details’ The Adelaide Advertiser ‘an entertaining and interesting thriller and a great start to a new Australian crime series with lots of potential’ Book’d Out ‘a clever multi-threaded plot’ Newton Review of Books ‘The opening prologue . . . is as exciting as anything I’ve read in a long time. It says much for Hammond’s storytelling skills and augurs well for his future writing.’ Devoted Eclectic Read more about Will Harris in BOOK #2: HAWK’S COVENANT, due 2014.

Will Harris seems to have turned a corner as he forms a law firm with his new legal partner, lawyer Chris Miller.

However, he soon finds himself the subject of blackmail….

About the Author: Alex Hammond was born in South Africa and emigrated to Australia with his family as a child. He graduated in Law/Arts from Melbourne University in 2001 and worked for several leading law firms. Although the law ultimately didn’t take, he was exposed to many of the superstitions, sects and petty empires of the profession and found himself fascinated by the culture, passion and grey moral world that lawyers inhabit. He is currently employed as the Digital Media Manager for RMIT University. alexhammondauthor.com 11 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

CURRAWONG CREEK Jennifer Scoullar

Publisher: Penguin Australia Pub date: July 2013 Genre: Rural Romance Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 288 pp

A heartfelt and passionate outback romance from the bestselling author of Brumby’s Run. Brisbane lawyer Clare Mitchell has a structured, orderly life. That is, until she finds herself the unlikely guardian of a small, troubled boy. In desperation, Clare takes Jack to stay at Currawong Creek, her grandfather’s horse stud in the foothills of the beautiful Bunya Mountains.

Clare discovers life at Currawong takes some getting used to, but it also feels like home. Her granddad adores having them there. Jack loves the animals. And Clare finds herself falling hard for the handsome local vet.

But trouble is coming. The Pyramid Mining Company threatens to destroy the land Clare loves – and with it, her newfound happiness ...

BRUMBY’S RUN (Penguin Australia, 2012) A heartfelt, romantic story about families and secrets, love and envy and, most especially, the bonds of sisterhood…

‘A lovely story of family and self-discovery, of love of the land and the wildlife that live on it.’ 1 Girl...2 Many Books ‘Appealing characters set within in a magnificent landscape’ Book’d Out ‘Celebrates the country and, more importantly, the bush as a life-changing environment…

A heart-thumping romance’ The Weekly Times Rights available: Translation (UK and North America via Penguin Australia), Film/TV, Audio

About the Author: Jennifer Scoullar lives on a property overlooking Bunyip State Forest in the southern Victorian ranges that has been in her family for generations, and has bred and ridden horses all her life. She is also a committed foster carer and advocate for children’s rights. Jennifer is a member of the Romance Writers’ Association of Australia. Jennifer’s next book, Billabong Bend, will be published by Penguin in July 2014. jenniferscoullar.com

12 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

SUNSET RIDGE Nicole Alexander

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Contemporary fiction Pub date: September 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, German, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: German (Blanvalet) Page extent: 480 pp

A story of bravery and misadventure, of intolerance and friendship – and most of all it is a story of three young men who went to war and fought for love.

1916: As the world descends further into war three young brothers on a remote rural property are caught up in a series of unfortunate events. One by one, Thaddeus, Luther and David Harrow choose freedom over their restricted lives by running away from the family property Sunset Ridge. The two eldest boys, Thaddeus and Luther, yearn for independence, while David, artistically inclined following a near mortal illness, finds his young heart disappointed at an early age.

When the brothers meet again they are bound for France and the terrible hell of the Great War. Witness to remarkable feats of courage and shocking carnage they reach the edge of human endurance and somehow manage to carry on. With the world on fire the brothers come to understand the healing power of love for their comrades, each other and the young spirited girl they left behind back home.

2000: Madeleine Harrow Boyne has grown up in the shadow of her grandfather. Although dying before her birth, David Harrow was an artist of renown and a veteran of the Great War, posthumously celebrated for a collection of landscape paintings which were only made public when the works were sold after his death in the 1950s. The loss of this artistic legacy saddens Madeleine and she decides to use her position as an assistant to the Director of a Sydney art gallery to arrange a retrospective of her grandfather’s work. However she quickly discovers how little she knows about her grandfather. As Madeleine’s search for information widens she becomes convinced that there are more of her grandfather’s artworks yet to be found, however it is only when she returns to the family property Sunset Ridge that Madeleine gradually unravels the remarkable life of her grandfather.

About the Author: In the course of her career Nicole Alexander has worked both in Australia and Singapore in financial services, fashion, corporate publishing and agriculture. A fourth-generation grazier, Nicole returned to her family’s property in the late 1990s. She is currently the business manager there and has a hands-on role in the running of the property.

Nicole has a Master of Letters in creative writing and her novels, poetry, travel and genealogy articles have been published in Australia, Germany, America and Singapore. She is the author of four novels: The Bark Cutters, A Changing Land (both also published in German by Blanvalet), Absolution Creek and Sunset Ridge. www.nicolealexander.com.au

13 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

BLOOD SECRET Jaye Ford

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Thriller Pub date: September 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: German (Blanvalet) Page extent: 448 pp

She shouldn’t have stayed. Now she can’t leave…

Nothing ever happens in Haven Bay, which is why Renée Carter stayed longer than she should – and why she thought it was safe to stop running for a while.

When Max Tully, the man she loves and the reason she stayed, disappears after a party, Rennie wants to believe it’s the obvious, that the out-of-control kid who tried to run them down is responsible – and nothing to do with the violence of her past. Police suspicions, though, fall on Max himself. Money is missing and he’s gone – it can’t be a coincidence.

Max Tully is alone, injured and in pitch darkness. He doesn’t know where he is or why. All he remembers is the last time he was in a place like this – eight years ago when he was crushed under rock in a mining accident. But this time he can move and he’s not lying around to wait for death. As he crawls, concussed and in pain, memories begin to surface – the kind that make him fear for who he’s left behind.

SCARED YET? (Random House Australia, March 2012) She fought back. She won. Now the nightmare begins ...

‘The menace dogging Liv’s every move creeps into your bones ... all too terrifyingly believable.’ The Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Pray for a rainy weekend, ditch the family and take the phone off the hook. You will want to read this all at once.’ The Hoopla Rights sold: ANZ, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish BEYOND FEAR (Random House Australia, March 2011) Imagine if your worst fears came true ... again.

‘There are elements of Salander in Jodie Cramer … While the action in the barn between the men and the captive women is nail biting, the psychological action in Jodie’s mind equally compels … She’s a heroine to cheer on.’ The Sunday Telegraph WINNER – Best Debut Novel and Readers Choice in the 2012 Davitt Awards for Australian women crime writers.

HIGHEST SELLING debut crime novel, fifth highest selling debut across all genres in Australia 2011 Rights sold: ANZ, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Czech, Italian, Slovak, Dutch About the Author: Jaye Ford is a former journalist, who worked in print, radio and television for twelve years. She was Australia’s first female presenter of a national sport show, hosting Sport Report on SBS. Later, she fronted evening news on regional television and ran her own public relations business. She lives at Lake Macquarie in the NSW Hunter Valley. www.jayefordauthor.com 14 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE PERFECT WIFE Katherine Scholes

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: September 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: French (Editions Belfond), German (Droemersche Verlagsanstalt) Page extent: 488 pp

She only wants to be a perfect wife…

Kitty Hamilton arrives in Tanganyika with high hopes for her new life. An exciting adventure halfway across the world could be just what she and Theo need to recover from the scandal that almost tore them apart.

She is determined to play the role of the perfect wife, but her dreams soon begin to unravel. Theo is distracted with his important British government post, and while Kitty had imagined doing valuable work of her own, she finds that choosing the right frock to wear to the club is the biggest challenge of her day.

In this wild and foreign land, where very different powers prevail, the head can’t always rule the heart. As old wounds resurface and new passions ignite, Kitty and Theo confront emotions that push them beyond the boundaries of all that they know and believe in.

The Perfect Wife is a breathtaking story about the struggle between duty and desire, jealousy and love, commitment and freedom. And the need to follow the call of your heart, wherever it may lead you…

Read more about the background to THE PERFECT WIFE in a Q&A with the author here About the Author: Katherine Scholes was born in Tanzania, East Africa, the daughter of a missionary doctor and an artist. When she was ten, the family left Tanzania, going first to England and then settling in Tasmania. As an adult, Katherine moved to Melbourne with her film-maker husband. After working there for many years, writing books and making films, they returned with their two sons to live in Tasmania.

Katherine is the author of international bestsellers The Rain Queen, Make Me an Idol, The Stone Angel and The Hunter’s Wife, and her previous books have been published in languages including Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. She is especially popular in Germany and France where her books have sold over two million copies. www.katherinescholes.com

15 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

HAPPY EVA AFTER Chris Harrison

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: November 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 312 pp

‘With … cheeky wordplay and laugh-out-loud gags, Chris Harrison ensures that this is a great read for fans of contemporary fiction, English grammar and malapropisms’ Books + Publishing As a teacher at the Fawlty Towers of London language colleges, Sebastian Pink is accustomed to confusion caused by the complexities of the English language.

Married to Sarah, a career woman who has long been a total workaholic but is now desperate for a baby, Sebastian feels ambivalent about becoming a parent. Sarah has effectively been absent from his life for so long that they’ve grown apart and these days his social life has come to revolve around his work; walking his dog, Claude; and his obsessive daily completion of the cryptic crossword.

When an alluring Czech student called Eva becomes one of Sebastian’s students – and inadvertently provides him with the last solution in his morning crossword – he finds himself drawn into a sordid suburban tangle based mainly on his own misinterpretations and feverish imagination.

Happy Eva After is a seriously funny comedy about a bloke, his wife, his dog, an alluring young woman with a mysterious past, and the nuances of the English language.

About the Author: Chris Harrison is a journalist, editor and award-winning author. He has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Guardian, The Herald Sun and Sports Illustrated. His bestselling travel memoir, Head Over Heel, has been published in ANZ, the UK and the US as well as translated into four languages, made into an Audio book and abridged in Reader’s Readers’ Digest. It also won the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing About Italians in Australia at the 2008 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. His first novel Happy Eva After will be published by Allen & Unwin in ANZ in November 2013.

Chris grew up in Australia and England. After school he became an aerobatics pilot. He then studied Communications and English Literature at Macquarie University before venturing to Italy where he lived for five years and married an Italian, with whom he has two children. After a subsequent five years in London, where he worked as a journalist and language teacher, as well as being guest lecturer in the MA Publishing degree at City University, he and his family recently returned to Australia. He currently lives in Sydney where he works as an editor for News Limited. Until recently, he also wrote a weekly column which appeared across a variety of News Limited mastheads and websites. http://www.chrisharrisonwriting.com

16 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

BARRACUDA Christos Tsiolkas

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: November 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: UK (Atlantic), French (Balfond), USA (Random House), Czech (Host), Dutch (Ambo Athos), Greek (Oceanida), German (Klett Cotta), Canada (HarperCollins), Brazil (Intrinseca), Sweden (Leopard) Page extent: 528 pp

His whole life, Danny Kelly’s only wanted one thing: to win Olympic gold.

Everything he’s ever done – every thought, every dream, every action – takes him closer to that moment of glory, of vindication, when the world will see him for what he is: the fastest, the strongest and the best. His life has been a preparation for that moment. His parents struggle to send him to the most prestigious private school with the finest swimming program; Danny loathes it there and is bullied and shunned as an outsider, but his coach is the best and knows Danny is too, better than all those rich boys, those pretenders. Danny’s win-at-all-cost ferocity gradually wins favour with the coolest boys – he’s Barracuda, he’s the psycho, he’s everything they want to be but don’t have the guts to get there. He’s going to show them all.

Should we teach our children to win, or should we teach them to live? How do we make and remake our lives?

Can we atone for our past? Can we overcome shame? And what does it mean to be a good person?

A Searing and provocative novel by the acclaimed author of the international bestseller The Slap, Barracuda is an unflinching look at modern Australia, at our hopes and dreams, our friendships, and our families. It is about class and sport and politics and migration and education. It contains everything a person is: family and friendship and love and work, the identities we inhabit and discard, the means by which we fill the holes at our centre.

Barracuda is brutal, tender and blazingly brilliant; everything we have come to expect from this fearless vivisector of our lives and world. ‘…There is not a more important writer working in Australia today.’ Australian Bookseller & Publisher.

WINNER – 2006 Age Fiction Prize WINNER – 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award WINNER – 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize WINNER – 2009 Vance Palmer’s Prize for Fiction WINNER – 2009 Australian Literary Society’s Gold Medal WINNER – 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year LONGLISTED – 2010 Booker Prize About the Author: Christos Tsiolkas is the author of four previous novels: Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head on; The Jesus man; Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne best writing award; and The Slap, which was published in 2008 in Australia and has since been published all over the world. The Slap won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the 2009 Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, the 2009 Australian Literary Society’s Gold Medal and the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for 2009. The Slap was longlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize. Tsiolkas is also a playwright, essayist and screenwriter. He lives in Melbourne.

17 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

GIRL OF SHADOWS (Book #2) Deborah Challinor

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia Genre: Historical fiction Pub date: December 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 496 pp

What had they done? What had she and Sarah and Friday done?

1830: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Harriet Clarke and Sarah Morgan have been transported to Sydney from London. Sarah has been assigned to jeweller Adam Green, Harriet is a maid for the Barrett family, and Friday is working as a prostitute in a brothel. Each of them is struggling to forget the brutal crime they committed. But their fate is no longer theirs to control. Vicious underworld queen Bella Jackson holds the girls’ futures in the palm of her hand, biding her time until she exacts payment for what she knows about their misdeeds. Harriet, racked with guilt, becomes convinced that their lost friend is haunting them, and while Friday succumbs to the bottle, Sarah has to fight for everything she holds dear. Once again, the girls must join forces to save one of their own.

But which one? And in the background Bella Jackson waits and watches ...

Book 1: BEHIND THE SUN (HarperCollins, 2012) Irreverent and streetwise prostitute Friday Woolfe is in London′s notorious Newgate gaol, awaiting transportation. There, she meets three other girls: intelligent and opportunistic thief, Sarah Morgan, naive young Rachel Winter, and reliable and capable seamstress, Harriet Clarke.

On the voyage to New South Wales their friendship becomes an unbreakable bond – but there are others on board who will change their lives forever. Friday makes an implacable enemy of Bella Jackson, a vicious woman whose power seems undiminished by her arrest and transportation, while Harriet is taken under the wing of an idealistic doctor, James Downey. Rachel catches the eye of a sinister passenger with more than honour on his mind, whose brutal assault leaves her life hanging in the balance.

When they finally arrive on the other side of the world, they are confined to the grim and overcrowded Parramatta Female Factory. But worse is to come as the threat of separation looms. In the land behind the sun, the only thing they have is each other ...

Book 3: THE SILK THIEF due out October 2014 .. and Book 4: A TATTOOED HEART due out 2015 Praise for Deborah Challinor ‘Challinor is a good storyteller; her characters have depth and her historical backdrops are well researched, seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn’ Bookseller + Publisher About the Author: Deborah Challinor is a freelance writer and historian who was born in New Zealand. All of her historical novels have appeared in the top five of the New Zealand fiction bestseller list, six reaching number one. Deborah currently lives with her husband in Newcastle, Australia. Her previous books have been published in Russia (Ast) and Germany (Weltbild) www.deborahchallinor.com 18 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

JED WALKER BOOK 1: THE SPY James Phelan

Publisher: Hachette Australia Genre: Thriller Pub date: December 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 304 pp

'Jed Walker is right there in Reacher's rear-view mirror.' Lee Child, international bestselling author.

A sinister group code-named Zodiac has launched devastating global attacks.

Twelve targets across the world, twelve code-named missions.

Operating distinct sleeper cells, they are the ultimate terrorist organisation, watching and waiting for a precise attack to activate the next group. It is a frightening and deadly efficient way to stay one step ahead. And cause the most chaos.

For ex-CIA operative Jed Walker, chaos is his profession. On the outer, burned by his former agency, he is determined to clear his name. Stopping Zodiac is the only way. Desperate to catch the killers and find the mastermind, he can't afford to lose the next lead, but that means that sometimes the terrorists have to win.

Ultimately, it all comes down to Walker: he's the only one who can break the chain and put the group to sleep . . . permanently. It's exactly eighty-one hours until deadline.

Look out for TEAM SIX, the second Jed Walker thriller, due December 2014.

About the Author: James Phelan is a Melbourne-based writer. He has studied and taught writing at a post graduate level, and has been a novelist since the age of 25. His first book was the author interview collection Literati: Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). His Lachlan Fox thriller novels are Fox Hunt (Hachette, 2006), Patriot Act(2007), Blood Oil (2008), Liquid Gold (2009), and Red Ice (2010). His Alone trilogy of Young Adult post-apocalyptic novels are titled Chasers (Hachette, 2010), Survivor (2011) and Quarantine (2011).

James has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines, having worked at The Age from 2000-2006, and has contributed to short story anthologies and serialised novels, including: Picture This (Penguin, 2010), Watchlist (Audible/Vanguard, 2010), and the Get Reading! anthology (2011).

His latest novels are a thriller introducing a new character, Jed Walker, The Spy (Hachette, 2013), and a 13-book Young Adult series The Last Thirteen (Scholastic, Sept 2013 and monthly in 2014).

19 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

CHRONICLES OF HARRY LYTLE BOOK 1: THE SWEET SMELL OF DECAY Paul Lawrence

Publisher: Allison & Busby USA Genre: Historical Crime Pub date: (new edition) January 2014 Format: Paperback Rights Available: Translation Rights sold: ANZ, North America, UK (Allison & Busby) Page extent: 442 pp

It’s London, 1664, and Harry has a big problem.

The first in a magnificent series of historical crime novels set in 17th century Restoration London featuring the loveable rogue Harry Lytle. Harry Lytle has just discovered he has a young cousin, Anne Giles. But he’s had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time as a corpse. With some robust assistance from David Dowling, a resourceful, impressively well-built, but hygiene-deficient, butcher, Harry sets out to track down Anne’s killer. Together they follow a trail of blood, conspiracy and corruption that takes them to the dark and murky corners of Restoration London, featuring a great cast of ne’er-do-wells, cheeky wenches, harmless witches, likeable villains, and not a few unsavoury fellows keen on sending Lytle and his companion to an early grave.

Cover of previous edition

‘Paul Lawrence puts his research to excellent use, conjuring up an atmosphere of decay and decadence and portraying characters that quite literally ooze from their varied ailments’ Gordon O’Sullivan ’You like historical thrillers set in 17th century England, with a lovable “hero” and an extraordinary sidekick in a twisted story, porcupined with historical information, witty, hefty and alluring prose? Then you must read The Sweet Smell of Decay.’ Edi’s Book Lighthouse BOOK 2: A PLAGUE OF SINNERS (Allison & Busby, April 2014) July 1665. The great plague rages rampant outside London’s city walls. Harry Lytle makes a welcome return after his trials and tribulations in The Sweet Smell of Decay to investigate the murder of the Earl of St. Albans. A grisly dinner-table death starts Harry off on the trail and it’s not long before his familiar accomplice, Dowling the butcher, joins him on the case.

Their master, Lord Arlington, tasks them with uncovering the name and motive of the Earl’s murderer – but there will be plenty more deaths and scrapes for Harry before the name is revealed.

Cover of previous edition

BOOK 3: HEARTS OF DARKNESS (Allison & Busby, January 2014) 1666. London is recovering from the Great Plague and mourning its dead. The city is free at last, like a great old bear, beaten to its knees, bloody but unbowed. But the disease slithered out of London to wreak its evil upon other towns and cities. The worst was over, the Pestilence gone, in search of new feeding grounds, bounteous and plentiful in the villages outside of the London. Henry Lytle, who works for Lord Arlington’s intelligence service, is sent to Essex where the plague is breeding to track down a traitor and bring him back alive. But things get tricky when Lord Arlington’s latest recruit for the mission is a man Lytle left dead. Having learnt first-hand of Lord Arlington’s barbaric cruelty, Lytle knows he can’t refuse the job. Travelling into a disease-ridden village with a murderer seems like a better option.

About the Author: Paul Lawrence has travelled and worked around the world but has now settled in Sydney, Australia where he runs creative writing workshops for high school students and other aspiring writers. www.harrylytle.com 20 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE GRASS CASTLE Karen Viggers

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: February 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 408 pp

The daughter of a pastoralist, Daphne grew up in a remote valley of the Brindabella Ranges where she raised her family with her husband Doug in a world of world of horses, cattle and stockmen. Then the Space Program brought change to their region: compulsory land acquisition, strangers, satellite dishes, men on the moon. There was talk of a National Park, resettlement, pay-outs. Noone wanted to go, but there was no choice. Years later, Daphne is still trying to come to terms with the fallout of her departure from the mountains and its impact on her husband.

It is during a regular visit to her valley in the National Park that she meets Abby, a young scientist studying kangaroos. Abby is a loner, shying from friendships and relationships, running from a terrible event in her early teens that has shaped her life. But Daphne is a patient mentor, like the grandmother who cared for Abby when her mother was ill. A gentle friendship develops between Abby and Daphne.

While Abby struggles to engage with a journalist who is interested in her and her kangaroos, Daphne tussles with feelings of guilt and responsibility for the indigenous people her family displaced when they settled in the mountains. Then a kangaroo cull is proposed for a reserve near the city, dragging Abby and the journalist into the midst of the conflict.

Set in the Brindabella mountains – the home of Miles Franklin – The Grass Castle is a story of displacement and disconnection, friendship and forgiveness. Above all, it is about the strength which resides in us all: the courage to learn and grow from the past.

THE LIGHTKEEPER’S WIFE (Allen & Unwin, 2011) A woman at the end of her life. A man unable to restart his. A history of guilty secrets and things left unsaid. A powerful, moving novel that will steal your heart.

‘Melbourne author Karen Viggers sets the scene in a family dynamic filled with regret, loss and love. Poetic in its treatment, it’s a novel of parallels and, ultimately, hope.’ Australian Woman’s Weekly Rights sold: Italy (Newton Compton Editori), Slovenia (MIS), Norway (Cappelen Damm), French (Les Ecoles) About the Author: Karen Viggers was born in Melbourne, Australia, and grew up in the Dandenong Ranges riding horses and writing stories. She studied Veterinary Science at Melbourne University, and then worked in mixed animal practice for seven years before completing a PhD at the Australian National University, Canberra, in wildlife health. Since then she has worked on a wide range of Australian native animals in many different natural environments, including Antarctica. She lives in Canberra with her husband (an ecologist also passionate about wildlife) and two children. As well as writing, she works part-time in a veterinary practice and provides veterinary support for biologists studying native animals. Her first novel entitled The Stranding was published by Allen & Unwin in 2008, followed by The Lightkeepers Wife in 2010. www.karenviggers.com 21 Curtis Brown Australia / laura@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

COMING SOON! CLOSE UP Kate Forster Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Romance Pub date: March 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: Finland (Cappelen Damm) Word count: 91,000 approx

One life-changing film role, two broken hearts, three amazing women – and a powerful secret.

Zoe Greene manages the careers of Hollywood’s biggest stars. She’ll do anything to help them – and herself – to get ahead.

Actress Maggie Hall, Zoe’s childhood friend, has been America’s sweetheart for nearly twenty years. And she’s about to learn that there are two things in life you just can’t fight: growing older and falling in love.

Dylan Mercer – young, beautiful and defiant – has run away from her intellectual New York parents to try her luck in Hollywood. She’s not after fame and fortune, though. Dylan is on a quest to find her birth mother.

All three women soon become swept up in the search for the actress who will score the role of a lifetime.

But ambition and desire can bring out the worst in people. And in Hollywood, not everyone is ready for the their close up, especially when it exposes the secrets of past...

THE PERFECT LOCATION (Penguin Australia, Avon UK, 2012) ***Over 170,000 copies sold!*** *** What happens when fame, beauty and secrets clash?

‘This addictive debut novel from Aussie actor and singer Kate Forster is the perfect beach read.’ New Idea ‘Love this book. Love, love this book. If you remember only one thing from this review, let it be this: read this book. Harnesses the best of the chick lit world with romance, mystery, crime, world travel, and just a touch of romance. This book is an absolute summer must read.’ Chicklit and Wine Rights Available: North America Page extent: 304 pp SEDUCTION (UK title THE PERFECT RETREAT) (Avon UK, Penguin ANZ, 2013) ***Over 150,000 copies sold!*** *** Willow’s life has become a movie. Only this time she isn’t acting.

From London to LA, Byron Bay to Sydney – a lush, compelling story about passion, betrayal and forgiveness, and the price of fame.

Rights available: North America About the Author: Kate Forster trained at the prestigious WAAPA and worked as an actor and jazz singer for many years. Kate has also hosted a weekly gossip show on Melbourne radio. Moving to a career as a businesswoman and entrepreneur, Kate and her husband run a highly successful marketing and advertising company based in Melbourne. www.kateforsterbooks.com.au 22 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE WRONG GIRL Zoë Foster

Publisher: Penguin Genre: Commercial women’s fiction Pub date: March 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 80,000 approx

‘A high-calorie slice of chick lit.’ Sunday Mail (on Playing the Field) Lily Woodward is your average chronically single workaholic, so when she and her party-loving swimsuit model flatmate Simone swear off men for six months, it barely makes a dent. That is until the disgustingly handsome country boy, Jack Winter, takes over as chef on the morning TV show she produces. After a rocky start, Lily realises she’s developed a bit of a (‘massive’) crush on Jack – just as Simone announces she has started seeing him. Lily becomes entwined in her own private hell as the couple flaunt their new bond in front of her, but something inside her can’t help thinking she and Jack seem to be far better suited. When Simone’s fondness for drugs starts to drag her off the rails, and Jack and Lily bond on a food tour, her suspicions only grow. But when she quits her job, Jack seems to forget about her, and Lily resigns herself to the fact he was never in her league anyway. Or was he...?

Praise for Zoë Foster ‘Clever and cheeky.’ Sun Herald ‘Fabulously wry wit.’ New Idea THE YOUNGER MAN (Penguin Australia, 2012) He was only supposed to be a bit of fun…

When Abby enjoys a memorable night with a delicious 22-year-old, she easily waves him out of her life the next morning. She doesn’t have time for these sorts of distractions. And he’s only 22, after all! A child. But the charming young Marcus isn’t going to let her get away that easily. He knows what he wants and takes it upon himself to prove that age is irrelevant where the heart is concerned. Abby, though, isn’t convinced. She feels certain she should be with someone her own age, someone more impressive, someone more . . . settled. Surely nothing can ever come of this relationship?

Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page Extent: 304pp

About the Author: Zoë Foster is an author, journalist, blogger, relationship commentator and beauty expert. She writes a page (of nonsense) each week for Sunday Style magazine, is the relationship columnist at Cosmopolitan magazine, and blogger behind fruitybeauty. Prior to this she was contributing editor of Mamamia, the editor-in-chief of beauty site PRIMPED, beauty director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, and beauty and lifestyle director of Cosmopolitan magazine.

She has had three novels published (Air Kisses, Playing The Field and The Younger Man) and two non-fiction books (a dating and relationship guide called Textbook Romance, co-written by Hamish Blake, and a compilation of her best beauty tricks and tips called Amazing Face). http://zoefoster.tumblr.com/ www.zoefoster.com.au

23 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THROUGH THE CRACKS Honey Brown

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Thriller Pub date: April 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 288 pp

Four-year-old Nathan Fisher disappears from the bank of a rocky creek. Did he drown or was he taken? The search for the missing boy grips the nation. A decade later, young teen Adam Vander has grown tall enough, strong enough, to escape his abusive father. Emerging from behind the locked door of their rambling suburban home, Adam steps into a world he knows little of.

In the days that follow, with the charismatic and streetwise Billy as his guide, Adam begins to experience all that he's missed out on. And he begins to understand that he has survived something extraordinary. As the bond between the boys grows, questions begin to surface. Who is Adam really? Why was he kept so hidden?

Was it just luck that Billy found him, or an unsettling kind of fate?

Unearthing the shocking truth of Adam's identity will change the lives of many and put at risk a cast of flawed, desperate people. It's a treacherous climb from the darkness. For one boy to make it, the other might have to fall through the cracks.

About Honey’s previous books: ‘Brown is the best writer of psychological suspense in Australia. Nothing is quite what the reader expects as Brown deftly steers her narrative to conclusion. One of those books that has to be read again to see how she does it. Simply superb.’ Lucy Sussex, Sunday Age ‘If you’re a fan of Jaye Ford’s Beyond Fear, Dawn Barker’s Fractured and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, you’re going to love Dark Horse.… suspenseful, urgent, adrenaline-pumping.’ Devoted Eclectic ‘A ripper. Brown keeps the pages turning and the pulse racing with a masterful, sexy and chilling plot.’

Weekend West Australian ‘Brown is a clever and inventive storyteller ... delivering the pay-off in what must rank as one of the most audacious and wholly unexpected twists in a popular novel of recent times.’ The Australian ‘Honey Brown does an excellent job of this taut and atmospheric thriller, successfully adding a darkly sexy tone. The characters are well drawn and charismatic, and the twists are great.’ Bookseller+Publisher ‘A story that takes an unrelenting hold and doesn’t let go. ... a gripping, suspenseful, rollercoaster of a read.’

Great Aussie Reads ‘The pace is compelling, the tension superb and the plot veers into a breathtaking twist. A finely crafted, stunning psychological thriller that I can’t recommend strongly enough.’ Book’d Out

About the Author: Honey Brown lives in country Victoria with her husband and two children. She is the author of three books: Red Queen, The Good Daughter and After the Darkness. Red Queen was published to critical acclaim in 2009 and won an Aurealis Award, and The Good Daughter was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award in 2011. After the Darkness was selected for the Women’s Weekly Great Read and for Get Reading 2012’s 50 Books You Can’t Put Down campaign.

24 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

FOREIGN SOIL Maxine Beneba Clarke

Publisher: Hachette Australia Genre: Short Stories Pub date: April 2014 Format: Demy Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 60,000 approx

An emotional suckerpunch, Foreign Soil is a startling debut collection which spans decades, continents, dialects and cultures.

In 1960s London, enraged black militant Solomon Gray goes on the war-path through the rebel squats of Brixton. In 2001, in Sydney’s notorious Villawood Detention Centre, desperate Sri Lankan asylum seeker Asanka is driven to commit the unthinkable. In Mississippi, southern housewife Jeanie Macloud is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her son from small-town ignorance. As his small village is attacked by the Janjaweed, seven year old David finds solace in a patchwork bike. Mildred Lucas, a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, leaves rural Jamaica in 1949, in search of her destiny. It’s 1989, and a young Australian schoolgirl finds herself betraying the new Asian arrival in order to fit in. The cops, his mother, the job shop – nobody will leave Harlem Jones alone. But this time, it’s not just Harlem that’s mad, it’s half of London.

NOTHING HERE NEEDS FIXING (Picaro Press, 2013) Poetry. A single mother’s blues howl and an album of childhood sorrows. The second poetry collection from award winning Caribbean-Australian poet and slam poetry champion Maxine Beneba Clarke, this book embarks on previously uncharted territory: the trials and tribulations of growing up black in 1980’s Australia; the emotional dissolution of a marriage; a trip through the turbulent and uncertain world of single parenthood.

‘Oddly beautiful… a stunning attack on the pretentious white male gits who see poetry as an exalted profession to keep away from those who are loud, black, female, happy, or even in possession of lives outside poetry’ Signal Express Rights available: World excl ANZ Page extent: 48 pp, 3500 words WINNER – 2013 Victorian Premier’s Award for an unpublished manuscript.

About the Author: Maxine Beneba Clarke is an award-winning Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean heritage.

She is a slam poetry champion, and the author of the poetry collections Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (Picaro Press, 2009) and Nothing Here Needs Fixing (Picaro Press, 2013). Overland magazine has called her ‘one of the most compelling voices in Australian poetry this decade.’

Maxine’s poetry is regularly broadcast internationally, and her performances include Melbourne Writers Festival (2008, 2010, 2013), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2012), Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival (2013) and The Emerging Writers Festival (2008, 2009, 2011).

Maxine won the 2013 Victorian Premiers Award for an Unpublished Manuscript for her debut short story collection Foreign Soil, which sparked a small bidding war in Australian publishing. Foreign Soil will be published by Hachette Australia in May 2014, followed by her debut novel, Asphyxiation in 2015. Her memoir The Hate Race, about growing up black in white middle class Australia, will be published by Hachette in 2016. http://slamup.blogspot.com.au/ 25 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE RETURN Sylvia Kwon

Publisher: Hachette Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: April 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 67,000 approx

A beautifully written debut novel exploring an Australian farming family caught between generations and cultures during the turbulent 1960s.

Merna Gibson’s husband Frank survived the Burma railway line as a POW under the Japanese military. He may have come home physically intact, but the three years on the line have left deep psychological scars. He cannot forget– and worse still, he will not forgive.

Working hard to build up the farm after his return, they thought the memories of these tumultuous years were behind them until their son Paul returns from Japan with a Japanese wife.

It’s the early 1960s – the world seems to be on the cusp of a new social revolution and the men who went to fight for the freedom of others have been pushed to the background. How does a traumatized and bitter man come to terms with not only the presence of his new daughter-in-law but a world that seems to be changing in way he does not understand? Can a mother caught between the two men she loves reconcile her family? And how can a young couple learn what love really means?

About the Author: Sylvia Kwon was born in South Korea but grew up in Perth, Western Australia after her family migrated there in 1977. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Western Australia.

Before her family eventually settled in Perth, WA, they spent some time in regional Australia; first in a large town south of Perth and in a small mining town in the Goldfields. After moving to Melbourne, she worked in publishing and PR for a number of years before having a child. She began writing when illness prevented her from returning to the workforce. The Return is her first novel.

26 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE STRAYS Emily Bitto

Publisher: Affirm Press Australia Genre: Literary fiction Pub date: May 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 80,000 approx

THE STRAYS is a story about belonging; about the promise and the courage of the new, and how difficult it is to seize it.

Evan Trentham is the wild child of the Melbourne art world in the 1930s: a world of rapid change and violent reaction; of experiment and censure; of innovation and its struggle against the establishment. Evan and his captivating wife Helena attempt to carve out their own small niche, to escape the stifling conservatism they see around them, by gathering together other likeminded artists. They create a utopian circle within the walls surrounding their rambling family home and vast, thriving garden. They offer these young artists a place to live and work, and the ambivalent benefits of being associated with the infamous Evan.

At the periphery of this circle is Lilly Struthers, the best friend of Evan and Helena’s daughter Eva. Lilly is infatuated by the world she bears witness to, and longs to be part of this enthralling makeshift family.

Outside, the art establishment rails against the rise of modernism. On the inside, the group of passionate, unconventional individuals, each trying to earn a reputation in the fickle art world, creates a volatile environment. Lilly and the Trentham daughters, growing from children to young women within this vibrant but chaotic circle of artists, are inevitably entangled in the shifts and struggles of the group.

As Lilly observes years later, looking back on events she still carries painfully within her, the story of this ground-breaking circle involved the same themes as Evan Trentham’s art: Faustian bargains and terrible recompense; spectacular fortunes and falls from grace. Yet it was not Evan, nor the other artists he gathered around him, but his own daughters, who paid the debt that was owing.

Praise for THE STRAYS: ‘One of the most highly anticipated debuts of 2014— it certainly lives up to the hype. It tells the story of Lily, a young girl wooed by a progressive group of artists living in 1930s Melbourne … What’s especially wonderful about Bitto’s literary novel is that the story never feels weighed down by the style. It’s an immensely pleasurable read that covers a wide canvas: art history, modernism, a young girl’s coming of age. It’s clear that Bitto is a hugely talented writer and destined for a promising career.’ Emily Laidlaw, feature review Books & Publishing 20 February 2014 SHORTLISTED – 2013 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.

About the Author: Emily Bitto lives in Melbourne. She has a Masters in literary studies and a PhD in creative writing from the University of Melbourne, where she is also a sessional teacher and supervisor in the creative writing program. Her writing has appeared in various publications, including Meanjin, Heat, Harvest, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Literary Review. The manuscript of her debut novel, The Strays, was shortlisted for the 2013 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.

27 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

ROCKING HORSE HILL Cathryn Hein

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Women’s fiction Pub date: May 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 336 pp

Three generations of women with a connection to a special place, a connection which is threatened by the arrival of an outsider with a secret in her past – a suspenseful new romance from the author of Heartland As the eldest daughter in her privileged family, Emelia Wallace-Jones is entitled to custodianship of her beloved Rocking Horse Hill, the family property located at the base of an ancient volcano. But hell-bent on wiping out the tradition that cost her marriage, Em’s mother Adrienne has other ideas.

To Em’s dismay and her grandmother’s disgust, Adrienne splits ownership of Rocking Horse Hill between Em and her sensitive brother Digby. When Digby announces he wants to marry a convicted criminal, a woman whose extreme beauty may have allowed her to get away with murder, Em is torn with worry. She sincerely wants happiness for her brother but how can she reconcile Felicity Townsend’s past with her family’s future?

For her brother’s sake, Em does her best to be welcoming when Felicity is released on parole. But as Felicity creeps further into their lives, Em begins to feel increasingly under threat until a terrible event sets her fighting back. A fight that puts her at odds with her family, friends and Nick Sinclair, the ex-boyfriend she once betrayed but fallen for again.

As Em risks losing all that’s precious she must decide if what she’s protecting is for herself or for her family.

HEARTLAND (Penguin Australia, May 2013) A powerful novel of family dynamics, life on the land and a young woman’s struggle to overcome a tragic loss…

‘Heartland is the kind of book that draws you in and makes you not want to put it down and if you do, then the characters will haunt you until you pick it up again. Hein knows how to create characters … that come alive on the page. This one’s definitely a keeper’ Lauren Murphy, The Australian Bookshelf ‘A wonderful, moving story exploring the themes of grief, guilt, family and love. It will definitely be on my favourites list for 2013’ Shelleyrae, Book’d Out Rights Available: World English language excl ANZ, Translation, Film/TV Word Count: 344 pp About the Author: Cathryn Hein was born in South Australia’s rural south-east. At age 10 she finally managed to wheedle her first horse out of her worn-down parents. Armed with a shiny Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture) from Roseworthy College she moved to Melbourne and later worked in Newcastle and Canberra. A posting to France took Cathryn and her partner overseas for three years in Provence where Cathryn began to write fiction. Her short fiction has been recognised in numerous contests, and published in Woman’s Day. Now living in Melbourne, Cathryn writes full-time. www.cathrynhein.com 28 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE TEA CHEST Josephine Moon Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Commercial Fiction Pub date: May 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, UK, Film/TV, Audio *Rights sold: UK (Allen & Unwin) Word count: 80,000 approx

‘Rows of teapots and Turkish tea glasses lay out for taste tests. Roasted marshmallow, chocolates, gingerbread men, Turkish delight, chocolatecoated rasPaperbackerries, crystalised ginger and truffles all sat in tall glass jars, just begging for someone to pluck them for themselves.’

Kate Fullerton is the lead tea designer for The Tea Chest, a boutique tea store in Brisbane, but inherits half the company after her mentor, Simone, dies. Now, she’s faced with the enormous task of going to London to set up a new store from scratch in just six weeks – and prove to her family, her hostile business partner and herself that she’s worth the risk.

Leila Morton has just been fired from her job. Elizabeth Clancy has just found out her husband has betrayed her in the most awful way. Both need to start again.

Can the three women succeed against the odds? They have to. The Tea Chest is just too precious to lose.

About the Author: Josephine Moon has been writing books since her first story in the first grade about a spider who took an adventure. Her teacher, the lovely Mrs Herron, kept it to show Josephine’s mum after school. Josephine went on to write Starlight the Brumby in the third grade and her dad took it to his work and had his secretary type it up into a real book. She kept writing and writing and writing, eventually pursuing journalism, then teaching English and Film & TV, and finally becoming an editor, which taught her much about the finer aspects of grammar and style. She also studied massage and aromatherapy along the way.

It took Josephine a long time to find the type of genre and niche she wanted to write in and she wrote and published stories across a variety of fields over twenty years. She finally worked out that all she needed to do was write the book she wanted to read and her own style of novel emerged.

She lives with her witty and funny husband and their son, on an acreage on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. www.josephinemoon.com

29 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE WORD GHOST Christine Paice

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: May 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 80,000 approx

You never do know what’s coming at you in the days before it comes. You don’t know anything until its heading straight for you and I had no idea what was coming my way.

It was April, England 1973. I was nearly sixteen years old. My trousers were flared.

I hoped that Dave was coming my way because these were the days of Dave. The new version of London Bridge had just been opened by The Queen, but I didn’t care about bridges. It was spring and all my cells were bursting under my skin and I knew I was alive because I was in love with Dave.

But after one glorious summer with Dave, Rebecca is forced to move with her family to Brightley, a village with one pub and a puddle for a pond. If only Dave was there.

Someone weird is in the bedroom.

Someone appears to be living in the bottom of Rebecca Budde’s wardrobe.

Someone weird is downstairs.

Things don’t make sense anymore.

Welcome to Brightley.

Set when you thought love was forever, and must learn sometimes it’s not, The Word Ghost is a funny, moving coming-of-age story about what it means to find love, lose love and discover who you are when you live in a village in England with no street lights.

About the Author: Christine Paice is a poet, and writer. She has published two collections of poetry with Ginninderra Press Australia, Mad Oaks and Staring At The Aral Sea. Her children’s book, The Great Rock Whale, was published by Hachette Australia in 2009. Her work has been published four times in the Best Australian Poems series by Black Inc. She was a runner up in the Newcastle Poetry Prize and she won the prestigious national Josephine Ulrick Award for poetry in 2009. She was Poetry editor and writer for Old Trout, An American Review, for one glorious year. Her work has been read on ABC Jazz Alive and Poetica, Radio National and she was a finalist in the ABC Radio National Fiction competition.

In 2010 she became the University of Wollongong’s inaugural Janet Cosh Poet, resulting in the work, Collecting The Collector. She facilitates creative writing and poetry workshops, is currently the South Coast Writer’s Centre poetry manuscript assessor and works as a mentor with a talented indigenous poet. Her work has been published numerous times in literary journals and newspapers. She has no friends, two sons and one daughter and bribes her family to live with her in Kiama, New South Wales.

30 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

WHAT CAME BEFORE Anna George

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: June 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: Dutch (Xander), German (BTB) Word count: 67,000 approx

A sexy, powerful, compelling and visceral debut novel about the perils of falling in love…

David Forrester and Elle Nolan are sophisticated, mature people who don’t understand love.

When jaded lawyer David meets Elle, he decides she’s his last chance of happiness and does everything he can to woo her and keep her. Everything, that is, except face his demons.

Elle, a lawyer herself once but now a blossoming filmmaker, is done with unhappiness. But romance can be intoxicating and David is determined.

During one ill-fated night, What Came Before unfolds from both David and Elle’s points of view, in the past and in the present. And it begins with David admitting into his Dictaphone to the killing of Elle, then his new wife.

Hovering above her broken body, Elle sees the sweep of her life, its triumphs and its mistakes. And she sees how, when she first met David, her newfound success as a filmmaker had made her reckless; and her idealised ideas about romance misled her.

As the night progresses, we learn their story of a love of unprecedented intensity; a love David was compelled, at turns, to destroy. A love that Elle has yet to survive.

Visceral and compelling, WHAT CAME BEFORE creates a chilling modern portrait of the dark side of love.

About the Author: Anna George is the author of What Came Before, a novel about the perils of falling in love. Initially trained as a lawyer, Anna began her writing career verifying footnotes for a legal encyclopaedia. From there, she went on to review films for a Hong Kong street magazine and to write feature film scripts. Her best junket to date, for a feature film script, involved a trip to Mexico researching the life of a backpacker. Currently, Anna is working on her second novel, The Beauty of Stone, a psychological thriller set on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Both books are to be published by Penguin Australia, the first in mid-2014. Anna lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and two sons.

31 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

RACHAEL’S GIFT Alexandra Cameron

Publisher: Picador/Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: July 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 90,000 approx

A gripping debut novel that poses a disturbing question: how far would you go to protect your child?

Rachael is a child prodigy, a talented artist whose maturity and eloquence is far beyond her fourteen years. She’s also energetic, charming and beautiful, beguiling everyone around her. To her mother, Camille, she is perfect. But perfection requires work, as Camille knows all too well.

It’s hard work hiding the truth, especially from your husband. For Rachael has another extraordinary gift: a murky one that rears its head from time to time, threatening to unbalance all the family has been working towards.

Set in contrasting worlds of Australia and Paris, told from the perspective of husband and wife, Rachael’s Gift is a detective story of the heart about a mother’s uncompromising love for her daughter and how far she will go to protect her.

About the Author: Alexandra Cameron is an Australian living in England with her husband. She has a BA in Film and French and has done occasional acting and film production work. She studied novel writing at City University in London and was mentored by author Jill Dawson. She is working on her second novel.

32 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE GREAT PLAINS Nicole Alexander

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Fiction Pub date: November 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 120,000 approx

From the fledging state of Oklahoma with its Wild West frontier history to a sprawling pastoral Australian sheep empire, THE GREAT PLAINS is a story of loss and longing and of what it means to belong.

The Wade family have built their wealth and power in two continents over a century. In America they have expanded into the newspaper, retail and textile businesses having established themselves on Southern cotton plantations before outbreak of the American Civil War. In Outback Australia they have cemented their position as prominent pastoralists through the lucrative merino sheep industry, where the First World War feeds the demand for woollen uniforms.

However money and power mean nothing. When Philomena Wade is abducted by Apache Indians in 1863.

Only her uncle, Aloysius Wade remains convinced that the girl will eventually be reunited with her family.

Twenty-three years later a beautiful white woman is found with the legendary Geronimo, but Philomena’s mind is ruined and her children are half-breeds.

As Aloysius tries to salvage something of Philomena’s life and legacy, his obsession leads him to query his good intentions, an obsession which in turn affects his male descendants who are equally enamoured of the mixed-blood Wade women.

As the fledging state of Oklahoma rises to prominence Philomena’s descendants battle poverty and racism, a shocking accident forcing them to flee the ‘Dust bowl’ and head East. Running for their lives only one child will find the strength to survive… In a new land, Australia.

Displaced in the unwanted life forced upon her, Abelena Wade must come to terms with her heritage in order to embrace an uncertain future.

About the Author: In the course of her career Nicole Alexander has worked both in Australia and Singapore in financial services, fashion, corporate publishing and agriculture. A fourth-generation grazier, Nicole returned to her family’s property in the late 1990s. She is currently the business manager there and has a hands-on role in the running of the property.

Nicole has a Master of Letters in creative writing and her novels, poetry, travel and genealogy articles have been published in Australia, Germany, America and Singapore. She is the author of four novels: The Bark Cutters, A Changing Land (both also published in German by Blanvalet), Absolution Creek and Sunset Ridge. www.nicolealexander.com.au

33 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

ALREADY DEAD Jaye Ford

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Thriller Pub date: September 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 115,000 approx

Sometimes the truth can kill …

Miranda shrunk away from him, arm pressed to the driver’s door. ‘What’s your name?’

‘I’m already dead. That’s my name now. That’s what they called me. I’m Already Dead.’

Journalist Miranda Jack is finally attempting to move on from the death of her husband by relocating to the coast with her young daughter, Zoe. Then a single event changes everything.

On a Monday afternoon as she waits at traffic lights, a stranger jumps into her car and points a gun at her chest.

Forced to drive at high speed up the motorway, Miranda listens to the frantic, paranoid rants of Brendan Walsh, a man who claims he's being chased and that they're both now running for their lives.

Two hours later her ordeal is over in the most shocking fashion. Miranda is safe but she can’t simply walk away – not without knowing the truth about that terrifying drive.

As a journalist Miranda has always asked questions. But this time the questions are dangerous – and the answers might get her killed.

ALREADY DEAD is another heart-stopping ride of sheer suspense from the author of the bestselling BEYOND FEAR. About the Author: Jaye Ford is a former journalist, who worked in print, radio and television for twelve years. She was Australia’s first female presenter of a national sport show, hosting Sport Report on SBS. Later, she fronted evening news on regional television and ran her own public relations business. She lives at Lake Macquarie in the NSW Hunter Valley. www.jayefordauthor.com

34 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Worthy of note (ones you might have missed) PAPER CHAINS. Nicola Moriarty (Random House Australia, 2013) Fiction.

A heart-warming story of love, friendship and forgiveness – and the crazy twists of fate that shape our lives…

Hannah and India are new best friends. Although true friendship means always telling each other the truth, doesn’t it…? Hannah, you see, is running from her life back in Sydney. Now in London, she’s trying to put the past behind her, and finding this amazing new friend is a positive step forward. If only she could stop punishing herself for what she did. India knows Hannah is hiding something big, and she’s determined to figure it out. Fast. Because India has a secret of her own… One that is currently sealed in a love letter that’s making its journey across Europe in the most unconventional way.Before it reaches its destination, can India help Hannah learn to forgive herself? And will Hannah wake up and realise that India needs rescuing too …?

Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 288 pp

FREE-FALLING Nicola Moriarty (Random House Australia, Feb 2012) Fiction.

A beguiling tragic-romantic comedy – of heartbreak and heroism, grief and ghostly dreams...

Two women, united in their loss, separated by their grief. And yet still linked in a most unexpected way ...

‘A wonderful book. I enjoyed reading it so much that I didn’t want it to end!’ Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul ‘Funny, edgy and real’ Courier Mail ‘Full of heartfelt moments and nicely conceived outcomes’ West Weekend.

Rights Available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Rights sold: Dutch (De Kern), German (Goldmann) Page extent: 320 pp

35 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

non-fiction

36 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THIRTY FOUR William Hastings Burke

Publisher: Wolfgeist Publishing UK (now OP) Genre: Travel narrative / historical narrative Pub date: November 2009 Format: Paperback Rights available: North America Rights sold: Film (Tom Hooper), Polish (Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie), German (Aufbau), Czech (Stredisko Spolecnych) and French (tbc) Page extent: 260 pp

Forget staid biography. Think seat of your pants travelogue mixed with a Spielberg eye for storytelling …

Amidst the giddy chaos of Berlin, Hitler toys with death in his bunker. The golden boy of Nazism, Hermann Göring, looks set to succeed as Führer. But his bid for power ends with a cyanide capsule in a gaol cell in Nuremberg. And there history signs off on Hermann. Yet buried in the footnotes sits the extraordinary story of Hermann Göring’s little brother, Albert.

A defiant anti-Nazi, Albert Göring spent the war years busting the persecuted out of concentration camps, smuggling them across borders and funnelling aid to refugees throughout Europe. He did everything to undermine his brother’s regime. But by 1944 the Gestapo were love in theing him down like a dog. Did Hermann step in and save his brother?

Enter William, a twenty-something from Sydney, Australia, who stumbles upon the tattered pieces of Albert’s history. Shelving plans for a Ph.D., William sets off on a three year odyssey across eight countries and three continents to piece together the puzzling life of Albert Göring.

Forget staid biography. Think seat of your pants travelogue mixed with a Spielberg eye for storytelling and you start to get a taste for the energy William brings to the page. Delivering the kind of must-read story that turns history on its head, Thirty Four gives us a new hero. Standing alongside Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg is the Göring history forgot.

34thebook.com

book trailer

Author bio: Born in 1983, William Hastings Burke grew up on Sydney Harbour. He has since lived in Germany, Norway, the UK and the US. After graduating with an honours degree in Economics Soc. Sc. from the University of Sydney, he set up base in the student town of Freiburg, Germany. Living off a few shifts at the local Irish pub, he began a three year, self-funded journey to uncover the story of Albert Göring. Since the publication of Thirty Four by Wolfgeist Publishing in 2009, William went on to present and co-produce the documentary Goering’s Last Secret, a coproduction between Denham Productions, Channel 5, BBC World and the History Channel.

He is currently working on his second book centred on the Jewish refugees of Kobe, who found themselves wedged between two lions, Nazi Germany and the USSR. Fed up with the stuffy academic approach to history, William is part of a new breed of historians and authors bringing history to the next generation. William currently lives in Sydney, from where he is waging a campaign to see Albert Göring honoured by the Yad Vashem in Israel.

37 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

HIS STUPID BOYHOOD Peter Goldsworthy

Publisher: Penguin Australia Genre: Memoir Pub date: July 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 264 pp

The award-winning author of the much-loved Maestro explores his childhood influences in this quirky, brilliant, funny memoir.

Few Australian writers have delved as deeply as Peter Goldsworthy into the mysterious state of being that is childhood. Now he’s applied his fascination with that stage of life to his own, from his bizarre first memories to the embarrassments of his adolescence.

For all his working life Goldsworthy has been both doctor and writer – not for nothing is he hailed as Australia’s Chekhov – and his memoir is a rare insight to a mind charmed equally by literature and science, the rational and the imagined. The small country towns he grew up in gave free rein to the young Peter’s intense curiosity, and in the fifties and sixties he ran amok in hilarious fashion. A boy with a mind wide open to the universe but closed to self-knowledge, he came of age with a naive self-confidence that was ripe for the bursting.

Praise for HIS STUPID BOYHOOD: Comically self-deprecating, unrestrained in its honesty, HIS STUPID BOYHOOD is a passport to the lost country of youth, and a beautiful homage to childhood in general.

‘Peter Goldsworthy’s delightful memoirs are less unreliable than mine, but even more frank about the behaviour and mental obsessions of small boys. Australia’s most wide-ranging writer shows us where it all comes from: out of that single, concentrated, burningly self-conscious point of being an unusually alert infant – a state which, in a writer as gifted as he, can last for a lifetime, in the freshness of his language if not the folly of his conduct.’ Clive James ‘In self-deprecating terms, Goldsworthy describes his naive, self-confident ways, which often ruined attempts to make meaningful contact with girls, and which still caused him trouble as an 18-year-old. By the end of the book Goldsworthy has become not just a reader but a published poet and a medical student. The writing is honest, unflaggingly humorous and entertaining, and conjures wonderful images, which enable the reader to share Goldsworthy’s own journey. More please.’ Bookseller + Publisher About the Author: Peter Goldsworthy’s numerous literary awards, across a range of genres, include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the FAW Christina Stead Award for fiction, and a Helpmann Award, shared with composer Richard Mills, for the opera Batavia. His poetry and novels have been widely translated; several of his novels, and the short story, The Kiss, have also been adapted for the stage.

38 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE PECULIAR CASE OF THE ELECTRIC CONSTABLE: A TRUE TALE OF PASSION, POISON AND PURSUIT Carol Baxter Publisher: One World Publications UK Pub date: September 2013 Genre: History / True crime Format: Paperback Rights available: Translation Page extent: 416 pp

The electrifying story of a criminal Quaker, a poisoned mistress, and the dawn of the information age, by a master storyteller John Tawell was a sincere Quaker but a sinning one. Convicted of forgery, he was transported to Sydney, where he opened Australia’s first pharmacy and made a fortune. When he returned home after fifteen years, he thought he would be welcomed; instead he was shunned.

Then, on New Year’s Day 1845 he boarded the train from Slough to London. Soon, men arrived chasing a murderer — but the 7:42 had departed. The railway was experimenting with a newfangled device, the electric telegraph, so a message was sent: a “KWAKER” was on the run. The trial became a sensation, involving no weapon, much innuendo, and a pious man desperate to save his reputation – and would usher in the modern communication age.

Written with the narrative verve of THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER, this is a delicious true tale of murder and scientific revolution.

Praise for THE PECULIAR CASE OF THE ELECTRIC CONSTABLE: ‘Carol Baxter’s vivid account of a Victorian murder and its aftermath is meticulously researched and thoroughly engrossing. I recommend it to anyone interested in the murkier side of life in the nineteenth century.’ Fiona Rule, author of The Worst Street in London ‘Fans of Erik Larson’s true-crime thrillers will be pleased by this gripping account... With a novelist’s flair for drama, using details that were painstakingly extracted from the historical record, Australian popular historian Baxter recreates the life of suspect John Tawell... [and] does a stellar job of integrating details about the nascent forensic science of the time, questions about the role of expert witnesses in jury trials, and the insatiable public hunger for salacious details about the case.’ Publishers Weekly ‘As lively and readable as a crime novel. Normally that would be good enough; but this is a book of two halves – its unique selling point is the invention of the telegraph and its experimental use on the Great Western Railway.’ The Times About the Author: Carol Baxter is the prize-winning author of three popular histories with a criminal bent, including An Irresistible Temptation and Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady, which have been published to critical acclaim in her native Australia. She lives in Sydney.

39 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THE BLUE DUCKS Mark LaBrooy & Darren Robertson

Publisher: Plum / Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Food / Cooking Pub date: September 2013 Format: Paperback, colour photos throughout Rights available: World excl ANZ (via Pan Macmillan Australia); Film/TV Page extent: 208 pp

Delicious food, the importance of community and the joy of surfing…

‘LaBrooy and Robertson have created something beautiful: infused with a passion that is as honest as it is contagious. That description applies equally to this book and the recipes you’ll find within it.’ Taste.com.au Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy are the faces of a new, grassroots approach to cooking – delicious food based on an ethos of community, sustainability and growing-it-local. Professional chefs, mad surfers, keen gardeners and foragers, Darren and Mark live by this philosophy in everything they do – when cooking in their café, Three Blue Ducks, and in their garden, which is home to a rambling vegetable patch and four very happy chickens.

In their first book, Darren and Mark share more than 80 of their most enticing recipes, using eggs direct from their ‘Chook Mahal’, honey from their own bees, local meat and seafood, and loads of herbs and veggies grown in the garden. Enjoy mouthwatering Sticky Pork Ribs, Barbecued Calamari, Spiced Chicken in a Brown Paper Bag, Home-Toasted Muesli, Salted Caramel Banana muffins ... and meltingly good Char-grilled Peaches with Vanilla & Rosemary Ice Cream.

This is a cookbook full of fresh ingredients and dishes bursting with flavour; a tribute to our breathtaking coastal landscape; and an inspiring reminder of the joys of connecting with the land, whether it be growing your own veggies, keeping chickens or making more ethical food choices. The Blue Ducks will have you cooking up the most delicious and seasonal delights, and looking at the food we eat in a completely new way.

About the Authors: Darren Robertson moved to Australia in 2001 to work with chef Tetsuya Wakuda, becoming head chef at Sydney’s internationally acclaimed Tetsuya’s. Darren was co-host of the television show Love to Share, is the host of Charcoal Kitchen on Foxtel’s LifeStyle Channel, and a judge on Channel 10’s new series Recipe to Riches.

Mark LaBrooy completed his apprenticeship at Sydney’s Tetsuya’s, then spent the next seven years travelling, including two years as sous-chef at Josef, a fine dining restaurant in Zurich. Today, both Darren and Mark work at Three Blue Ducks – a Sydney institution that evokes a sense of good, honest food and of strong community spirit. www.threeblueducks.com 40 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

CAPTURING MINDFULNESS Matthew Johnstone

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Self-help / Practical / Illustrated Pub Date: November 2013 Format: Paperback, colour throughout Rights Available: World excl ANZ Rights sold: UK (Constable & Robinson) Page Extent: 72 pp

A guide to becoming present through photography The present moment is all there is, if only we knew how to be truly alive in it. Becoming mindful is the key to living your life fully, and enjoying the beauty and extraordinary moments that can be found in our everyday. One path to mindfulness is by becoming photopresent. In his beautiful new book, wellness author Matthew Johnstone shares how the simple art of taking a photograph can be taken one step further to retrain your attention to be in the moment. A natural extension of his Black Dog series and QUIET THE MIND, CAPTURING MINDFULNESS is, like meditation, an important practice for a contented life.

QUIET THE MIND (Pan Macmillan Aust, 2013) Modern society has made sitting still a near impossible task with its constant mantra of being connected. Our brains never get a break and the result can be increased stress, anxiety, insomnia and, if left unchecked, even depression. But there is something you can do – nothing! Matthew Johnstone’s new book, a follow-up to his bestselling BLACK DOG series, is a simple, accessible, step-by-step guide on how to meditate. This beautiful guide will help you find the space and peace for a relaxing meditation practice every day.

Rights sold: UK (Constable & Robinson), Chinese simple (Huaxia), German (Antje Kunstmann), French (Dauphin), Thai (Suan Nguen Mee Ma) About the Author: Matthew Johnstone worked for 13 years as an art and creative director in advertising in Sydney, San Francisco and New York. I Had a Black Dog, his illustrated book on what it is to suffer depression, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2005 and has since become a commercial success in Australia and internationally including the US, UK and languages including Afrikaans, Chinese (simple and complex characters), Dutch, German, Korean, Polish and Portuguese.

Pan Macmillan published the follow up, Living with a Black Dog, and Constable & Robinson’s UK edition appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Since then, The Alphabet of the Human Heart (co-written with life-long friend James Kerr) has been published in Australia and internationally, debuting at #5 on the UK’s Sunday Times bestseller list, and his first children’s book, Harvey: the Boy Who Couldn’t Fart was published by Walker Books. matthewjohnstone.com.au www.ihadablackdog.com www.alphaheart.com 41 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

WILL MOZART MAKE MY BABY SMART? Andrew Whitehouse

Publisher: UWA Publishing Australia Genre: Popular science / Parenting Pub date: November 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ (via Pan Macmillan Australia); Film/TV Rights sold: Greek (Metaichmio) Page extent: 200 pp

Busting the myths of human development.

Is there a more remarkable process than the creation of human life?

Aided by little more than a bottle of wine, a Barry White tune and an agreeable mood, a woman and man can create a truly extraordinary organism.

This book is about the wonders of human development. It poses the questions that make you gasp, snigger and ponder in the same instance; the questions that you’ve thrown around over a coffee with friends, without agreeing on an answer.

Dr Andrew Whitehouse takes on thirteen pregnancy and parenting myths: from whether tight jocks reduce sperm health, to baby brain for pregnant mothers; from the imaginary friends’ children create, to the impact of violent video games.

About the Author: Winthrop Professor Andrew Whitehouse is a medical researcher, who also writes about popular science and child development. Andrew trained as a Speech Pathologist before completing his PhD in Psychology.

He has been working at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth, Australia, since 2009, having arrived back in Western Australia from the University of Oxford. He is a prolific scientific researcher, having published 60 peerreviewed articles in the past 5 years.

He has also published two books and two internationally-used clinical assessments. His research has garnered worldwide media interest, having been profiled in TIME, The New York Times, CNN, and the BBC among others.

In 2011, he was named a Western Australian Tall Poppy of the Year; in 2012 he was a finalist in the prestigious Eureka Award, and in 2013 was named as ‘one to watch’ in The West Australian’s list of 100 most Influential Western Australians. He currently writes a column on child development for The Conversation and The West Australian. www.autism.childhealthresearch.org.au

42 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THROUGH THE FARM GATE Angela Goode

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia Genre: Memoir Pub date: December 2013 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 336 pp

Angela Goode grew up enchanted by farm life. Having spent long sunny days yabbying and riding horses on friends’ farms, she looked set to replicate those idyllic rural times when she married Charlie, a cattle breeder.

As Angela and Charlie began to build their dream farm from scratch, they never imagined the years of hardship and obstacles they would encounter along the way. From one large cattle stud, they moved to another with their city partners. It was here that Angela, who had previously enjoyed a career as a journalist, found herself caught between city life and country, her past and her present.

The reality of farm life set in as they battled drought while under pressure from escalating interest rates. Both the land and the animals were being pushed hard as land prices plummeted, livestock prices crashed, crops were ruined and the bank tried to wring every last dollar.

But just as life seemed near impossible, hope returned in the form of a run-down former sheep and onion farm called Field of Mars. Here Angela and Charlie combined their cattle stud and Lucerne seed crops with the protection of wildlife. Field of Mars was home to rare trees, red-tailed back cockatoos and bush stone curlews which made it the perfect place to link business with conversation and create their dream farm.

THROUGH THE FARM GATE takes us through the pain, the joys, the fears, dedication and complexity of what it takes to live on the land. Angela's honesty and her enduring love affair with the farm shines through every page of this funny, heart-warming memoir of dreams and determination.

About the Author: Angela Goode wrote, compiled and edited stories for Great Working Dog Stories, More Great Working Dog Stories, Working Dogs, Stories from All Round Australia and Great Working Horse Stories. She has written weekly columns for a number of major newspapers and broadcasts weekly talks on the ABC’s Country Hour.

43 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

COMING SOON! THE TRUTH ABOUT MOTHERHOOD (working title) Dilvin Yasa

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Non-fiction Pub date: March 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 70,000 approx

Confessions from one new mum (and sane advice from 25 experts) From dropping $10,000 on your one year old’s birthday party to breezily dismissing an agonising 26-hour labour as mere ‘period pain’, there’s no sport or subject as competitive as modern-day motherhood. In case you didn’t get the memo: you now must only mush organic food harvested from a Himalayan fair trade scheme to feed your bub, get back into your skinny jeans before you leave the hospital, and ensure little Archie is proficient in oboe/Sanskrit/Maypole dancing before he’s out of nappies. In short? It’s no longer enough to be a good mother, you need to be better than everyone else (and hold a parade so everyone’s aware of it).

Journalist, author and mother of two, Dilvin Yasa is crap at all the above and wants out of the race, so with a mix of dry humour and blunt honesty, she confesses her own failings as a mother (stealing water from other mums prams, leaving her kids at home while she holidays alone), calls bullshit on all the subjects that keep well-intentioned mums up all night (co-sleeping, public versus private schools, the work/life balance), and enlists the help of 25 experts to settle the score on what’s right and what’s wrong for once and for all.

THINGS MY DAUGHTER NEEDS TO KNOW (Pan Macmillan, July 2012) The truth about drugs, drink, sex, tattoos, babies, strange men and high heels The perfect book for mums who want to share with their daughters and for daughters who can’t always share with their mums. Drawing on years of experience as a journalist for women’s magazines and sharing – with admirable honesty – more than a few embarrassing stories from her own coming of age, Dilvin Yasa gives us frank, fearless and very funny advice on the sometimes painful, often joyful and always interesting journey into womanhood.

Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 232 pp About the Author: Journalist, media commentator and general zombie/Duran Duran/air guitar enthusiast Dilvin Yasa, is the author of Things My Daughter Needs to Know, and the editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly Ultimate Guide to Divorce. When she was little, Dilvin wanted to be the ultimate slashie – Bond girl/psychologist, neither of which eventuated. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.

44 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

LOVE IN THE OUTBACK Deb Hunt

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Genre: Memoir Pub date: May 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Word count: 90,000 approx

The true story of an unlikely romance set in the Australian Outback.

A year before she turned fifty, Deb Hunt stopped dating. She was done with love and sick of chasing men who didn’t return her affections. When her most recent flame announced he was marrying someone else, Deb knew it was time to make a change.

She landed a job as a marketing assistant with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and left London for the sunshine of Sydney on a mission to find happiness without a mate. But then on a trip to the red dust town of Broken Hill, she encountered a man unlike any other. A legend of the RFDS, he was practical, steady, financially responsible and conservative – everything Deb was not. He wanted a relationship. She wanted to flee.

Funny, warm and beautifully told, this is the story of what happens when you ditch your fantasies of romance and discover the truth about love.

About the Author: Deb Hunt has worked as an actor, writer and journalist in the UK and Australia.

Her work has appeared in House & Garden magazine, Sunday Telegraph, Body+Soul and Esprit. She spent two seasons with Shakespeare in the Park in London and five years writing stories for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Her story The Man with No Eyebrows was runner up in the Alliance Cornhill Short Story competition and her play Clean Sweep won Best Script, Best Production and People’s Choice Award in the Broken Hill Short and Sweet Play Festival. She is currently working on a memoir, due to be published by Pan Macmillan in mid-2014, and a book of farming stories.

45 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

UNDAUNTED Hugh O’Brien

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Memoir Pub date: August 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 272 pp

Diving was a boys-own adventure, a jump into the unknown full of devil-may-care attitudes. It welcomed you with one hand and cast you asunder with the other. It was a hideous bitch goddess and it drank the blood of the unprepared.

Since his low-key upbringing, Hugh ‘Obi’ O’Brien’s life has been a wild ride. What led this country boy, one of four sporty sons, from Sydney boarding school to directionless youth to navy clearance diver – slipping undetected through deep waters to defuse mines and dismantle bombs?

Then, upping the adrenaline, Obi joined the mysterious Special Forces counterterrorism unit TAG (East) – no walk in the park.

In his memoir UNDAUNTED – full of eye-popping anecdotes and sparing the reader nothing of his persistent self-doubt – he recounts this incredible journey. He also describes the difficult transition from military life to his days risking ‘spaghettification’ on underwater construction projects, then private security work pirate-hunting in the Red Sea and tearing along the world’s most dangerous roads in the Middle East.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to follow a high-action alternative route through life, Obi makes a unique guide. Undaunted is an engaging and unexpected account by an operator at once tough, whimsical and funny and always brutally honest.

About the Author: Born in 1979, Hugh ‘Obi’ O’Brien grew up on the family sheep and wheat farm, near Young in New South Wales. He attended Sydney boarding school St Joseph’s College, a rugby academy, where old-school English customs and Dickensian group living honed his fast developing survival skills.

Hugh applied for Special Forces with the army’s counter terrorism unit, TAG (East), a secretive team of divers and commandos, established to defend the domestic population from harm post 9/11.

Admittance to this unit – their failure rate is in the eightieth percentile – was the defining moment of his life, the chance to serve where angels fear to tread and maybe, just maybe, feel worthy of the path less travelled.

In 2007, Hugh left the Special Forces and has since pursued a career in private security. Currently he is stationed in Iraq and has recently married his childhood sweetheart, Alex.

Hugh continues to seek adventure wherever it may lie, be it pirate-hunting in the Red Sea or mentoring soldiers in Afghanistan. He believes you will only ever regret the things you do not do, and nobody wants to die without any scars.

46 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

HOOKED Samantha X

Publisher: Random House Australia Genre: Non-fiction Pub date: September 2014 Format: Paperback Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page extent: 304 pp

Samantha X is not your typical hooker. She’s the wrong side of 35, has two kids and counts a wild night out dining at her local pizzeria.

Career-wise, she had it all; writing for Australia’s top selling woman’s magazines; appearing as a media expert on television and travelling the world for the sake of a good story. Yet, after her marriage break down and two kids later, she turned her back on the media, and decided to dust off her stilettos and work at Sydney’s most infamous brothel, where she soon became one of their best and most in-demand girls. Not only was she making great cash, but she was privy to the real life stories of her clients - irresistible to the journalist in her.

How could she not keep a record of their salacious stories?

Hooked is a fly-on-the-wall sexy, juicy, page-turner of what really goes on behind the walls of a brothel; from police raids to tearful married men confessing their secrets; lesbian threesomes and having to service the odd married couple trying to reignite their relationship.

But while whoring can be lucrative and fun, it also comes with a hefty price, as Samantha soon finds out…The only problem is, can Samantha kick her addiction to what she believes to be the best job in the world…?

About the Author: Samantha X started her career as a journalist for London’s tabloid press before moving to Australia for sun, sea and sex.

After 13 years as a magazine writer in Sydney, Samantha decided selling her body was far more lucrative and fun and the stories she heard from within the brothel’s walls were more fascinating than any story she’d covered. She lives by the beach with her two children and two dogs and is quite happy to have sex for free now.

47 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Worthy of note (ones you might have missed):

FREE THE BEARS Mary Hutton with Julie Miller (Pan Macmillan Australia, 2013) Memoir The amazing true story of one woman who gave up everything to help save the world’s bears In 1993, Perth grandmother Mary Hutton started a petition at her local shopping mall after seeing a news story about the extraction of bile from a caged and traumatised Asiatic Black Bear. Upon learning that thousands of bears were being held in these horrifying conditions throughout Asia, Mary was compelled to act, and by 1995, Free the Bears was officially formed.

Since then hundreds of adorable sun, moon and sloth bears have been rescued from an existence of pain and suffering by Free the Bears and are now safe in sanctuaries in South-East Asia and India. Mary and Free the Bears are responsible for bringing the dancing bear trade in India to an end, an incredible feat given its hundreds of years of tradition. Free the Bears may be an autobiography, but Mary Hutton insists she is not the star of the story and that billing belongs to the bears. However, Mary Hutton’s one decision to make a difference has had an extraordinary impact around the world. www.freethebears.org.au Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Page Extent: 288 pp

BOY, LOST: A FAMILY MEMOIR Kristina Olsson (UQP Australia, 2013) Memoir A powerful family memoir from the award-winning author of The China Garden WINNER – 2013 QLA University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award SHORTLISTED – 2013 Queensland Literary Award SHORTLISTED – 2013 Courier-Mail Peoples Choice Queensland Book of the Year, Queensland Literary Awards SHORTLISTED – 2013 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards ‘[An] engrossing, affecting family memoir.’ Weekend Australian ‘Olsson uses perfectly balanced prose to weave breathtaking beauty into this sad yarn. Highly recommended.’ Readings Monthly ‘A compelling story of a family torn apart by poverty and abuse, evocatively told by a gifted writer.’

Courier-Mail ‘A powerful memoir. Olsson’s prose is lyrical and heartfelt.’ Books + Publishing ‘Olsson’s is a tragic story with no happy ending, but the clarity with which she tells it, the love that imbues it and its limpid, sensual style, all make it very hard to put down.’ Adelaide Advertiser Rights Available: World excl ANZ Page Extent: 264 pp

48 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au

THINGS I DIDN’T EXPECT (WHEN I WAS EXPECTING) Monica Dux (Melbourne University Press Australia, 2013) Cultural studies ‘This isn’t just a book for every woman who’s ever had a baby, but any reader who has a pulse… Fist-bumpingly smart and spleen-damagingly funny, Monica Dux is our answer to Caitlin Moran’ Benjamin Law ‘There are two kinds of pregnant women. Those who bloom, and the normal kind.

Happily, there is something in Monica Dux’s Things I Didn’t Expect for all of us.

Read it in a spirit of solidarity – or a spasm of schadenfreude – Dux’s irreverent, informed and in-your-hoohah-funny take on postfeminist pregnancy is a Kegel exercise of the spirit.’ Susan Maushart ’A hilarious, informed and insightful autobiographical account of motherhood. In the event of a call for the Voice of my generation of mothers, I nominate Monica Dux.’ Cordelia Fine Rights available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio *Rights sold: ANZ (MUP) Page extent: 272 pp

49 Curtis Brown Australia / annabel@curtisbrown.com.au / www.curtisbrown.com.au