Film deal for Jacaranda's Book of Harlan

Director Mark Tonderai has acquired the film rights to Jacaranda Books title The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden.

The novel, published last year by Jacaranda Books in the UK and Akashic Books in the US, follows the life of Harlan, a travelling musician from Georgia during the heart of the Harlem Renaissance, who is taken hostage in Paris when the city comes under Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

Tonderai acquired the rights through his production company Shona Films.

Tonderai is the director of psychological thriller "Hush" and "House at the End of the Street" which starred Jennifer Lawrence. He is adapting The Book of Harlan, and will direct the movie himself, with McFadden assisting in production.

Author McFadden said about the title: “I realised that while much had been written about the Jewish victims, the fate of Africans and African Americans at the hands of the Nazis was less well documented. I was fascinated by this discovery and set about writing a story that would illuminate this hidden verity.”