Wildfire lands Annie Mac's debut novel

Wildfire will publish Mother Mother, the debut novel from DJ and broadcaster Annie Macmanus, popularly known as Annie Mac. 

Publisher Kate Stephenson and senior commissioning editor Ella Gordon acquired world rights from Ben Dunn at Dunn Literary. The title will be a lead hardback launch for Wildfire in May 2021. 

Mother Mother is described as a "gritty, affecting coming-of-age novel" which  follows a young woman, Mary McConnell. Mary has lived in the same Belfast house her whole life, caring for everyone around her to the detriment of herself; but one morning, her 18-year-old son TJ awakes to find her missing. As his search for her becomes increasingly desperate, readers will travel down the challenging road of Mary’s life, and discover the events that led her up to this point.

Mother Mother is a story about the cost of unconditional love, but also about finding light in the darkest of places, says the publisher. 

Gordon said: "We all know Annie as someone who oozes warmth, down-to-earth authenticity, and the sharpest intuition when it comes to creative expression. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that she’s managed to write a book like Mother Mother, which is so powerful and human, and has such emotional heart that I’ve literally cried at every draft I’ve read. We’re so excited to introduce Annie Macmanus, the author, to the world."

Macmanus comented: "This book took two years to write, and was mostly created from small bursts of frantic writing squeezed into any spare time pockets I had. I found the whole process mesmerising. I focused on themes that are powerful and personal to me: motherhood, family ties, addiction, the resilience and strength of women and the Teflon bond that can exist between a mother and a son. I will treasure my research trips to Belfast and the people I met along the way. I am so grateful to have been given a chance to publish this book and I hope that it can move readers in some way, and even stay with them for a while."

Macmanus is the host of BBC Radio 1's "Future Sounds with Annie Mac" as well as other BBC Radio 1 shows. She is also the host of her podcast "Changes with Annie Macmanus".