Phoenix triumphs in seven-way auction for Kemp's debut
Francesca Main, publisher at Orion imprint Phoenix, has won a “fiercely competitive” seven-way auction for a debut novel from the inaugural Stylist Feminist Fiction Prize winner.
Main bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Kate Kemp’s The Secrets of Warrah Place, and a second book, from Nelle Andrew at Rachel Mills Literary (RML). Hachette Australia head of literary Vanessa Radnidge will publish simultaneously in Australia. German rights were won by Luebbe at auction, with “further translation deals anticipated”.
The “atmospheric and gripping” novel is about a crime that rocks a claustrophobic community. The book begins with the murder of Antonio Marietti in Warrah Place, a quiet cul-de-sac in 1970s Canberra. As the gossip spreads, 12-year-old Tammy, an amateur observational scientist, is determined to find out what happened but “there are secrets behind every closed door in the neighbourhood—and the identity of the murderer is only one of them…”
Main said the book “gave me goosebumps as soon as I started reading. [Kemp] irresistibly combines so many perennially popular elements—a heatwave, a murder mystery, a coming-of-age story, forbidden love, gossipy neighbours, the dark side of suburbia—and makes them feel fresh and alive thanks to her exhilarating ambition, stylish prose, deep empathy and acute psychological insight. The result is my favourite kind of book: a page-turner with depth.”
Kemp moved to the UK from Australia 20 years ago and has worked as a systemic psychotherapist in her native country and Britain. She began writing fiction six years ago and beat 450 submissions to win Stylist’s 2021 award for unpublished works-in-progress, which included an offer of representation by RML. She also won the novel category of Yeovil Literary Prize that year.
Kemp said: “The whole team [at Phoenix] met the ideas that have preoccupied me—about women reinventing themselves—with incredible enthusiasm, insight and an eagerness to broaden the conversation. Writing The Secrets of Warrah Place during the pandemic enabled me to connect with Australia and my heritage when travel wasn’t possible, and I’m really looking forward to working with Vanessa and Hachette Australia to bring the book to readers there.”
Phoenix said the novel will be published as a super-lead in May 2025, accompanied by an “unmissable campaign”.
