New direction for 'literary chameleon' Jo Baker to Transworld

Transworld has acquired a new, contemporary novel by Jo Baker, author of Longbourn and A Country Road, A Tree, about a female creative writing school tutor whose relationship with an intense student goes badly wrong.

Editorial director of Doubleday Jane Lawson did the deal for UK and Commonwealth rights including audio to The Body Lies through Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander Associates. Knopf has rights to publish in the US.

The new novel is described as "literary suspense with multiple voices and testimonies" that looks at male violence in fiction and in life. It will publish in Doubleday hardback next June. 

"Jo Baker is a literary chameleon," Lawson commented. "This novel is utterly compelling, and Jo inhabits a wide cast of characters and their attempts at writing completely convincingly - it's an act of nuanced ventriloquism. It is also a hard-hitting look at why women may not come forward when they are threatened. This challenging, ground-breaking novel confirms Jo Baker as a writer of vast skill and imagination. We at Doubleday are hugely excited about this new departure for Jo."
 
Baker said: "My new novel explores the reality of violence against women, the fictions we construct about it, and the pressure on women to somehow deal with it ‘better’. It has always been a joy to work with Doubleday in the UK and I’m so delighted that they will be bringing out The Body Lies next June."

A film adaptation of her debut Longbourn is due to start filming, directed by Sharon Maguire who also directed "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Bridget Jones's Baby" and produced by Random House Films and StudioCanal.