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Borough Press nets Charlotte Philby's Cambridge spy novel
The Borough Press has acquired two more books from "powerhouse" thriller writer Charlotte Philby, including a novelisation of the life of her grandfather, Cambridge spy Kim Philby.
Publicity director Ann Bissell struck a deal for world English language rights with Julia Silk at Kingsford Campbell.
The first book in the deal, Edith and Kim, draws on letters from the family’s private archive to tell Kim Philby's story, intertwined with the story of Edith Tudor-Hart, the woman who recruited him and who has been largely written out of history.
The synopsis states: “Edith and Kim will tell their story from first meeting in 1925 to Kim’s death in 1988. It promises the emotional depth and detail of the finest spy novel, and the layered suspense of the most chilling psychological thriller.”
Philby, who previously released contemporary thrillers Part of the Family and A Double Life with the publisher, explained: “So much has been written about the Cambridge Spies over the years and yet Edith Tudor-Hart – a woman so integral to the group's formation that she was referred to by Anthony Blunt as 'The Grandmother of us all' – is only ever referred to as a side character, if at all. The moment I first read about Edith – the Vienna-born Montessori teacher-turned-photojournalist who recruited my grandfather, Kim Philby, to the Soviets, before being shunned and driven mad by the regime she gave her life to – I knew I wanted to help illuminate her extraordinary, and ultimately tragic story, and reimagine the life of this remarkable woman and spy who has been largely written out of history.”
Bissell said: “Edith and Kim marks a departure from contemporary to historical, while still exploring Charlotte’s signature theme of deceit and specifically what it means when a woman is at the centre of a great betrayal. I hadn’t come across Edith Tudor-Hart before, and I am thrilled she will finally receive her deserved place in the very masculine history of espionage. Working with Charlotte is a dream and Borough Press is proud to be her publisher.”
Silk added: “Charlotte is an absolute powerhouse and Edith and Kim is a book only she could write. There's no better place for it to have found a home than with Ann and the team at Borough, who make every book an event, and I couldn't be happier that we'll be continuing to work together for Charlotte's next two novels.”
The Borough Press will publish in hardback in early 2022. Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership is handling film/TV rights.
