'Magnficent' debut to Pushkin's ONE imprint

Pushkin Press imprint ONE has acquired Paul Howarth’s debut novel Only Killers & Thieves.

Deputy publisher Laura Macaulay acquired British Commonwealth rights from Lucy Luck at Conville and Walsh. Rights have also been sold to Terry Karten at Harpercollins USA, and Denöel in France.

The novel, set in 1880s Australia and described by Pushkin as a "dark Western" tells of the harsh realities of frontier life, and the shocking systematic massacre of Aboriginal tribes by the Queensland Native Police.

Macaulay said: "Paul Howarth tells this devastating, relatively unknown episode from Australia’s past through the eyes of two young brothers on a bloody trail for revenge – where nothing and no-one are as they seem. It’s a gripping, beautiful and powerful story, and we’re thrilled to be publishing."

Howarth is a dual citizen of Britain and Australia. He is now based in Norwich where he graduated from the University of East Anglia Creative Writing MA in 2015 and was awarded the Malcolm Bradbury Scholarship.

Only Killers & Thieves will be published on the ONE imprint in summer 2018.