Mendelson returns with two-book Mantle deal

Mantle has landed The Exhibitionist, Charlotte Mendelson's first novel since her 2013 Booker-longlisted work Almost English (Mantle).

Publisher Maria Rejt acquired world English language rights, excluding the US, for two books from Peter Straus at RCW. The Exhibitionist will be published in March 2022 as a lead hardback title, with an untitled further novel scheduled for publication in 2024.

The publisher said of The Exhibitionist: “It sees the dysfunctional Hanrahan family gathering for a momentous weekend at their home in London, as famous artist and notorious egoist Ray Hanrahan prepares for a new exhibition of his art – the first in many decades. His three grown-up children will be in attendance, all of them with their own private struggles. There is also Lucia, Ray’s steadfast and selfless wife, who for years has put her own career as an artist on hold in order to devote herself to the family. But she is hiding deep secrets of her own, and as the weekend unfolds and the exhibition approaches, she must finally make a choice.”

Rejt said: “It is a beautifully observed and darkly funny novel about the truths of marriage, and a surprising love story which shows us how much you can sacrifice as a female artist for the sake of your family, and what happens when you decide to stop…”

Mendelson’s previous novels have been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and won the John Llewelyn Rhys and Somerset Maugham Awards. As well as writing fiction, Mendelson is a journalist and is the gardening correspondent for the New Yorker.