Hayley Atwell to voice Jessie Burton audiobook

Actor Hayley Atwell will narrate the audiobook for The Confession by Jessie Burton, as Picador reveals plans for the launch campaign. 

Atwell [pictured below], known for "The Long Song" and "Avengers Endgame: will voice the audiobook, which will be published on 19th September to coincide with publication of The Confession in print and ebook format.  

Burton’s third novel, The Confession is set between the Hampstead townhouses of contemporary London and 1980's America and is a "luminous, powerful and deeply moving book about secrets and storytelling, motherhood and friendship, and how we lose and find ourselves", said Picador.

Confirming the news on Instagram, Atwell, who described the novel as "compelling and moving" said: "I had the wonderful experience of recording the audio version of Jessie Burton's beautiful new novel The Confession. I kept on shouting down the microphone ‘oooh that’s a good line’ and then having to focus and re-record. Also, couldn’t get through a particular paragraph without blubbing. We called an early tea-break so I could pull myself together."

Burton said: "We were so unbelievably lucky Hayley said yes, and I couldn’t think of anyone more perfect - for the different story strands, for the London girls, for Barbara Lowden the Hollywood megastar, for Connie, for them all. I went to the studio to listen for a bit (and to look like a crazy fan here obviously), and honestly, she was amazing. It was a little magic, because I actually first met Hayley 13 years ago in the same play, just as her star was about to shoot into the firmament. I’m so happy life has made this particular full circle that she might be the one to read my third novel. All ten hours of it, total trooper. Thank you so much, Hayley. You’re the absolute best."

Burton, the bestselling author of The Muse and The Miniaturist, has sold 812,985 books for £5.4m through Nielsen. Picador acquired UK & Commonwealth rights for The Confession in both audio and print/ebook formats from Juliet Mushens at Caskie Mushens Ltd. It is currently scheduled to publish in 11 countries globally.

To mark the launch, Picador will also be producing special editions for independent bookshops and Waterstones as well as a main market edition which all feature their own exclusive hand drawn endpapers.

Publication will be supported by a 10 date UK book tour of events spread across the UK as well as BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime in October and national press interviews.