Cornerstone to publish Outlander prequel

Cornerstone Digital is publishing a prequel to the Outlander series in April in the form of an e-book novella. 

Selina Walker, publisher of Century and Arrow, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Virgins by Diana Gabaldon.

Virgins is a standalone e-book that, according to publishers, will feature "all the trademark suspense, adventure and history" of the international bestselling Outlander novels, as a young Jamie Fraser "learns what it really means to become a man".

Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds and both are still virgins. But Jamie’s love life becomes more complicated - and dangerous - when a Jewish doctor hires them to escort two "priceless treasures" to Paris.

Gabaldon's Outlander novels were turned into a television drama by Sony Pictures, first released in the US by Starz in 2014. Season one, based on the first book in the series, has been hailed by many as "the new Game of Thrones" and surpassed 5m viewing figures in the US in its first week. 

Virgins will be published as an e-book on April 8th. Season two of Outlander begins in the UK on Amazon Prime on 10th April, the day after it premieres in the US on Starz.