The Rain Heron picked as BA Fiction Book of the Month, as scheme restarts

The Booksellers Association has announced The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (Atlantic) as its Fiction Book of the Month for July, as the scheme restarts following a pause owing to coronavirus.

The Rain Heron follows Ren, a woman hunting and trading to survive alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. Her life is changed when she meets a young soldier who arrives in the mountains searching for a legendary creature, a mission that merges myth with reality.

Indie bookshops around the UK and Ireland will be promoting the novel throughout July. The BA will also support the promotion of the Fiction Book of the Month through social media and the provision of downloadable marketing material.

Arnott said: “Independent bookshops mean a tremendous amount to me. I worked in one for nearly seven years (if you ever come to Hobart, put Fullers Bookshop on the top of your itinerary), and I still go there all the time. You can’t beat a recommendation from a bookseller who knows what you like to read. That’s the best thing about independent bookshops—the people you meet who introduce you to new worlds.”

Sharon Benton, marketing manager for the BA, said: “We are delighted to be restarting the Fiction Book of the Month promotion which was paused earlier in the year due to Covid-19. We are extremely happy to have The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott selected as the title to relaunch this campaign.”

This week, the BA also restarted its Children's Book of the Month programme, with July's selection The Diddle That Dummed by Kes Gray and Fred Blunt (Hodder Children's).