Chatto & Windus snaps up I Found My Tribe

Chatto & Windus is publishing debut author Ruth Fitzmaurice's I Found My Tribe.

Publishing director Clara Farmer acquired volume, audio, serial and e-book rights in world English territories in a pre-emptive bid made within 24 hours of receiving material from Sarah Williams of Sophie Hicks Agency.

Fitzmaurice's "tribe" are her five children under 10-years-old, and her filmmaker husband, Simon, who has Motor Neurone Disease and can only communicate with his eyes. Ruth’s other "tribe" is the outdoor swimming club at Ladies Cove, where she lives in Greystones, Co Wicklow. 

I Found My Tribe is a memoir as well as "an incredible love letter to her husband, family, the natural world and the brightness of life".

Farmer said: "Ruth’s voice is unexpected, passionate, poetic, explosive, desperately funny – she is a born writer and reading her is a life-altering experience."

Fizmaurice first wrote a piece about her family for the Irish Times newspaper in January, which gained unprecedented attention. She said: "Writing a book has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and to get the chance to tell my story with the support of the warm and passionate people at Chatto & Windus only proves that sometimes dreams really can come true …"

I Found My Tribe will be published in 2017.