Raven signs Katherine Faulkner debut after four-way auction

Raven Books has snapped up Greenwich Park by debut author Katherine Faulkner following a "passionately fought auction" with four publishers head to head in the final round.

Raven Books editorial director Alison Hennessey acquired Greenwich Park with UK and Commonwealth and audio rights (excluding Canada) in a two-book deal from Madeleine Milburn at the Madeleine Milburn Agency. 

US rights were acquired at auction by Jackie Cantor at Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books with Simon & Schuster publishing in Canada. Greenwich Park will be published as a Raven Books super lead title in Spring 2021.

Hennessey said: "In the flurry of my pre-Frankfurt submissions, Katherine’s impeccably polished novel stood out from the start. Utterly compelling, immensely satisfying, I knew this was a book and author who were perfect for the Raven Books list. And when Katherine came in to meet the team, and wowed us all, we all knew we absolutely had to publish her here."

Milburn added: "I feel privileged to have an author with Raven Books – their taste is impeccable and I love their bold and original publishing.  I’m thrilled that Greenwich Park will be their big lead for 2021, and that they have such a shared vision for Katherine’s debut."

Greenwich Park follows "a newly pregnant woman living a seemingly charmed life in London’s Greenwich Park, with her architect husband and her beautiful multi-million pound home, is befriended by a brash single mother at an NCT class. As their unlikely relationship intensifies, Helen becomes increasingly unnerved by Rachel’s odd behaviour and determination to insert herself into Helen’s close knit group of friends. And she’s not the only one…"

Faulkner is a 32-year-old journalist from London. She is currently the joint head of news at the Times. While working as a reporter she won the Cudlipp Award for public interest journalism. The idea for the novel came to Faulkner during her first antenatal class and she wrote most of it on her maternity leave while juggling a newborn with completing the Faber Academy novel-writing course.

She said: "I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Alison and the incredibly talented Raven Books team at Bloomsbury. I was absolutely blown away by their passion for Greenwich Park, and knew straight away that I had found the perfect home for my book. I can’t wait to get started."