Bailey to publish book club mystery with Orion

Orion Fiction has landed a new novel from Jane Bailey, a dark reading group mystery called Sorry Isn't Good Enough.

Francesca Pathak acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in a two-book deal from Alice Lutyens at Curtis Brown.

Set in 1966, Sorry Isn't Good Enough is told through the eyes of nine-year-old Stephanie as she navigates life on the suburban close-knit Napier Road. "Her summer’s plans are thwarted when her best friend Dawn goes missing during the World Cup," reads the book's synopsis. "Everyone says they don’t know what happened to her. But at least one of them is lying."

Bailey is the author of six novels and has been a writer-in-residence for Cheltenham Festivals’ First Story for several years.

Commenting on the deal, Bailey said this title was "darker" than her previous novels. "It tells how a child — hungry for her mother’s love — is drawn to be the side-kick of a spiteful friend, and becomes fascinated by the attentions of a stranger. I wanted to explore the lengths a child might go to in order to please others," she said.

Pathak said: "If Joanna Cannon and Ali Land had a book baby that was then adopted by Gillian Flynn and Sadie Jones, Sorry Isn't Good Enough would be the result, and what a child it is. It’s both a mystery and a coming-of-age novel that has so much book club potential, and I can’t wait to work with Jane and publish this fantastic novel."

Orion Fiction will publish Sorry Isn't Good Enough as a hardback in spring 2022 with a paperback to follow.