Curtis Brown Australia March 2014 Rights Newsletter
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 GIRL OF SHADOWS (BOOK 2) Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins) Genre: Historical fiction Description: 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 ... A standalone epic, this is also Book 2 of the acclaimed series, beginning with BEHIND THE SUN (book 1) and THE SILK THIEF (book 3) forthcoming. Rights Available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV, Audio Agent: Clare Forster claref@curtisbrown.com.au 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 'Seamlessly fuses historical fact and engrossing fiction' Queensland Times THE WRONG GIRL Zoe Foster (Penguin) Genre: Commerical women’s fiction Description: Sometimes you don't know what you want until someone else has it. Lily needs a break. A man break. She hadn't exactly meant to sleep with her friend, Pete, and she certainly hadn't expected him to confess his love - for another girl - the next morning. If men were going to behave like such pigs, well, she'd happily take some time out. Besides, her TV career requires all her attention right now. Jack Winters - the gorgeous new talent - is definitely proving a distraction, but Lily is determined to maintain her professional distance, even when Jack starts seeing someone completely inappropriate. It's only when Lily accepts that good things don't always come to those who wait and takes a leap into the great unknown that life starts making sense . . . From the bestselling author of THE YOUNGER MAN and AMAZING FACE comes a funny, heartfelt novel about what happens when life, love, work and friendships collide. Rights Available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV Agent: Tara Wynne tara@curtisbrown.com.au
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FATAL IMPACT Kathryn Fox (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan) Genre: Crime fiction Description: When a girl's body is found in a toy box, forensic physician and pathologist Anya Crichton joins the police hunt in her home state of Tasmania for the child's missing mother and sister. Staying with her increasingly erratic mother, Dr Jocelyn Reynolds, Anya fears the long shadow of her sister Miriam's disappearance has finally driven her mother past the brink of sanity. But Anya soon discovers that Jocelyn is keeping a deadly secret. When tests conclude a virulent strain of food poisoning was responsible for the child's death, the outbreak begins to spread. Anya pairs up with Internal Affairs detective Oliver Parke to unravel the sinister connections between the fatal epidemic, a covered-up study, the shady deals of a multinational corporation and the alleged murder of a local scientist. Anya has strayed into a high-stakes game so dangerous the players will kill to keep it quiet. With time running short, Anya must uncover the truth before she is silenced - permanently. Rights Available: World excl ANZ & UK, Film/TV Agent: Fiona Inglis fiona@curtisbrown.com.au
THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW VEST Loretta Hill (Bantam, Random House) Genre: Contemporary fiction Description: ‘We can't choose who we fall in love with. It could be our best friend ... or our worst enemy.' Emily Woods counts cracks for a living. Concrete cracks. So when her longterm boyfriend dumps her, she decides it's time for a change of scenery. Her best friend, Will, suggests joining his construction team in Queensland. Working next door to the Great Barrier Reef seems like just the sort of adventure she needs to reboot her life‌until she realises that Will is not the person she thought he was. Charlotte Templeton is frustrated with the lack of respect FIFO workers have for her seaside resort. But picking a fight with their tyrannical project manager, Mark Crawford, seems to lead to more complications than resolutions. The man is too pompous, too rude, and too damned good looking. As both women strive to protect their dreams and achieve their goals, they discover that secrets will come out, loyalty often hurts, and sometimes the perfect man is the wrong one. From the bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE HARD HAT and THE GIRL IN STEEL-CAPPED BOOTS, Rights Available: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Clare Forster claref@curtisbrown.com.au 3 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au
THE RETURN Silvia Kwon (Hachette) Genre: Historical fiction Description: An evocative debut about one Australian family dealing with prejudice and change in the turbulent 1960s. War ends and the world changes, as it always does. The enemy are no longer the enemy just people living their lives. But hate is hard to extinguish. The scars of war are not always visible, and they don't always fade. They haven't for Merna Gibson and they definitely haven't for her husband, Frank. He won't ever forget what was done to him and his mates. The nightmares, the aches, the pain of seeing things a person should never see stay with him, always. The long-ago war colours their family life. For Merna, at home on the farm, Japan is very far away. For Frank, it isn't far enough. But their son, Paul, doesn't carry the same beliefs. For him, Japan is a place of possibility, a country to embrace. Father and son live worlds apart even when at the same table. Hate and prejudice has created a gulf between the two. When a woman comes into their son's life, it is left to Merna to try to bridge the gap. Caught between the two men she loves she is determined to keep her family together, while still everything keeps changing. THE RETURN is a powerful story about love, hate and forgiveness that will stir your heart. Rights Available: World excl ANZ, Film/TV Agent: Fiona Inglis fiona@curtisbrown.com.au
THE GRASS CASTLE Karen Viggers (Allen & Unwin) Genre: Popular fiction Description: Abby is a young woman shying away from close contact with others and running from a terrible event in her early teens which has shaped her life. Then she meets Daphne, the daughter of a pastoralist, who grew up in a remote valley of the Brindabella Ranges. Daphne raised her family in the high country with her husband Doug, in a world of horses, cattle and stockmen. But the government forced them off their land, and years later, Daphne is still trying to come to terms with her departure from the mountains and the tragic impact it had on her husband. Though years and life experience separate Abby and Daphne, they understand each other, and a gentle friendship forms. While Abby's traumatic past hampers her involvement with journalist Cameron, Daphne tussles with her own family history and the shadow it may have cast over the original inhabitants of the land. Both women must help each other face the truth and released long-buried family secrets before they can be free. THE GRASS CASTLE is a sweeping rural epic that reflects the strength which resides in us all: the courage to learn and grow from the past. Rights Available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Agent: Fiona Inglis fiona@curtisbrown.com.au
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SAFE HARBOUR Helene Young (Michael Joseph, Penguin) Genre: Contemporary fiction Description: When Darcy Fletcher drags a handsome sailor from a stricken yacht, she finds herself drawn into his mysterious world. Having saved his life, can she now rescue him from his dark past? Or will that endanger all she holds most dear? Noah, keeper of the peace and guardian of the Banskia Cove secrets, can't tell Darcy the real reason this man has washed up on their shores. If she understood the links between him and her own dysfunctional family, he'd lose her love for good. As they take refuge in an old whaling station, only one thing is certain – by morning, no one will be the same again. Lies will surface. Hearts will break, and not all will find safe harbour. A gripping novel of high drama and desire by Australia's award-winning mistress of romantic suspense. Rights Available: Film/TV Agent: Clare Forster claref@curtisbrown.com.au
NON FICTION DARK EMU Bruce Pascoe (Magabala Books) Genre: Non Fiction Description: DARK EMU argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia’s past is required. Rights Available: Translation, Film/TV, Audio Agent: Fran Moore fran@curtisbrown.com.au
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YOUNG ADULT TALES FROM THE HALF-CONTINENT David Cornish (Omnibus, Books, Scholastic) Genre: YA fiction Description: Following in the footsteps of DM Cornish's internationally acclaimed MONSTER BLOOD TATTOO trilogy, this collection of stories takes us further into the Half-Continent. Rights Available: Audio Agent: Clare Forster clare@curtisbrown.com.au
QUINCY JORDAN [CRYSTAL BAY GIRLS BOOK 1] Jen Storer (Penguin Books) Genre: Upper primary (10+ years) Description: Quincy Jordan doesn't want to meet her hippie cousins and go to school in Crystal Bay. Her life in Sydney is perfect. She's going to save her parents' marriage, score perfect marks at school and become a surgeon. Her only regret is that she'll never be a fashion designer. But sacrifices must be made! There's no way that Quincy is going to be 'Crystallised' – that is until her cousin Esme, the school musical and a cute boy called Harris changes everything… A gorgeous new series for girls from the best-selling author of the TAN TRULY novels. Rights Available: Film/TV Agent: Clare Forster claref@curtisbrown.com.au CHILDREN’S MAX Marc Martin (Viking, Penguin) Genre: Children’s picture book Description: Max and Bob are old friends. Max helps out in Bob's shop, and in the evenings they go fishing together. Until one summer, when everything changes . . . From the winner of the 2013 Crichton Award for Australia's best new illustrator comes this heartwarming story of enduring friendship. And chips. Rights Available: Film/TV Agent: Pippa Masson / Laura Dunn laura@curtisbrown.com.au 6 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au