Actress Hudson's debut lights up Tinder

Tinder Press assistant editor Amy Perkins has pre-empted the first novel from "Outlander" and "Victoria" actress Nell Hudson with the title slated to be the Hachette imprint's lead debut for summer 2022.

Perkins concluded the deal for world rights to Just for Today with Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency. The novel is about a group of friends in their twenties who live in a London and is "heady, reckless fun", Tinder said, but it also "depicts a year bookended by tragedy, culminating in a profound and life-changing loss".

Hudson, who graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 2012, is best know for portraying Laoghaire MacKenzie in the time travel historical drama "Outlander" and the Queen's dresser Nancy Skerrett in ITV's "Victoria". She is the daughter of the journalist and author Cressida Connolly and granddaughter of the influential literary critic Cyril Connolly.   

Perkins said: "[Hudson] has one of the most natural, beguiling narrative voices that I’ve read in a long time on submission—one that invites us into a glittering world of revelry while cleverly revealing the rotten underbelly of such a lifestyle. While her characters are lovable hedonists, she underpins the novel with real wit and wisdom, leading us to a devastating conclusion that floors the reader."

Hudson added: "Just for Today is about friendship, loss and growing up. My hope is that it speaks to anyone who has been, or is going through, the difficult and beautiful process of finding out who they truly are."