Debuts and father-daughter pair revealed in Bloomsbury's spring lists

Debut novelist Leila Mottley (pictured) and Orange Bakery founders Kitty and Al Tait are among the authors set to dazzle at Bloomsbury next spring. 

In a showcase introduced by editor-in-chief Paul Baggaley and chaired by broadcaster and journalist Razia Iqbal on 21st September, seven authors participated in a virtual Q&A and presentation of their work. 

Kicking off the new year will be Japanese-American author Sequoia Nagamatsu, with How High We Go in the Dark. Set in 2030, the novel opens in the Arctic Circle with the discovery of a 30,000-year-old body of a young woman.

Lauren John Joseph's "sweeping and shattering portrait of youth, friendship and first love", At Certain Points We Touch, will be released on 3rd March, closely followed in non-fiction by Midwife Marley's Guide for Everyone, an inclusive "modern bible for pregnancy" by Marley Hall, publishing on 31st March 2022.

Set in Northern Ireland, short-story writer Louise Kennedy's debut novel Trespasses will be out on 14th April, followed by fellow debut novelist Mottley's Nightcrawling. Inspired by the true story of a police scandal in Oakland, California, Nightcrawling will be published on 24th May 2022.

Bloomsbury will also be publishing physicist Dr Suzie Sheehy's The Foundation of Everything, which "illuminates the mysteries of physics"  with the story of 12 foundational experiments. The title will be released on 28th April next year, on the same day as cookery title Breadsong by the Tait father-daughter duo.

Publisher Rowan Yapp won a three-way auction for the recipe book earlier this year. She said: “Breadsong is a story with bags of heart. It is about Kitty and Alex discovering a passion, taking a risk and having a lot of fun along the way. Baking came along at a very tough time in their lives and helped them through to the other side. This book will share the life-affirming magic of baking through the delicious, creative and achievable recipes they learned along the way. Breadsong is everything I want in a book—and that includes cinnamon buns."

The showcase received 200 registrations from across the media, with many booksellers tuning in and participating in the virtual Q&A.