Virginia Woolf's great-niece Emma to publish debut novel

The great-niece of Virginia Woolf is to publish her debut novel in July with Three Hares Publishing.

Presenter and broadcaster Emma Woolf's debut novel, England's Lane, explores timeless themes of love, loss, betrayal and new beginnings. Told from the point of view of three people – a man, his wife, and his mistress - the book looks at the cost of marital infidelity and the challenges of single motherhood, the legacy of suicide and the healing power of love.

Yasmin Standen of Three Hares acquired world rights to the book directly from the author.

Woolf said England's Lane was the novel she had wanted to write for more than a decade, and hoped it wouldn't leave her great-aunt "turning in her grave".

"I was thrilled when Three Hares Publishing picked up [England's Lane]! I hope it will resonate with readers of all ages and walks of life..." Woolf said. "Like many of Virginia’s novels, my new book is set in and around London. The comparisons probably end there. I don't know what she would make of my fiction... I hope it won't have her turning in her grave.”

Discussing the legacy of her great aunt, Woolf said: "I was born into a house full of books – my father is a publisher and my mother a writer – and as a child I often had to clamber over piles of proofs and catalogues to get into bed.

"Long before I had ever read my great-aunt Virginia’s novels I was proud of the family connection and I knew that she mattered somehow. People came to our house in Camden to stroke our kitchen table - the table on which Leonard and Virginia Woolf started The Hogarth Press in 1917 - and to ask my father ‘but what was she actually like?’ Despite being a notoriously difficult writer Virginia Woolf is also a household name – that haunting profile adorns mugs, tea-towels and posters from Bloomsbury to Brooklyn."

Woolf has previously written six non-fiction books, focused on eating disorders and well-being.   

As well as working as one of the presenters on Channel 4’s "Supersize Vs Superskinny", Woolf is a journalist, critic, and former columnist for The Times.

England's Lane will be published in paperback in July.