Avon strikes deal for Big Ben story

HC's Avon Books is to publish debut The Clockmaker's Wife by Daisy Wood, which features Big Ben in a starring role. 

Editorial director Phoebe Morgan bought world all language rights from Sallyanne Sweeney at MMB Creative. 

The book tells the story of how the wife of a clockmaker working at Big Ben in the Second World War risked everything to foil a German plot to bomb London. Above all, it is a love story set across a backdrop of wartime in the city.

Wood said: "I’m so thrilled to be working with Phoebe and the brilliant team at Avon Books on my debut novel, The Clockmaker’s Wife. As a Londoner, it’s been a joy for me to write about the city’s iconic monument, Big Ben, and one woman’s fight to save it from destruction during the Second World War. I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned about this wonderful beacon of hope, a symbol of resistance during our country’s darkest days."

Morgan added: "Daisy is a wonderful writer and she brings to life the tumultuous Second World War period so well, reimagining a world in which a young, courageous woman had to risk everything in order to protect her country and save London from desecration."

Avon will publish The Clockmaker’s Wife to coincide with the unveiling of the restoration of Big Ben, expected to be summer 2021.