4th Estate scoops 'thrillingly incisive' book by debut writers Chloë Houston and Adam Smyth

4th Estate has acquired the debut novel from writers and academics Chloë Houston and Adam Smyth, publishing under the name Frances Wise. 

Editorial director Katie Bowden secured UK and Commonwealth rights—including e-book and audio rights—from Eleanor Birne at RCW, with publication scheduled for March 2025.

"The Book Game tells the story of eight friends who have gathered at a large house in the Cambridgeshire countryside for a week-long artists’ retreat," the synopsis says. "They write and work by the pool by day; in the evenings, there are communal drinks, dinners outdoors, midnight swims, games. But someone is playing a game the others don’t understand, meddling with their work and appearing to lurk on the edges of the property. As tensions rise over the seven days, the group will find their relationships forever changed."

Bowden said: "The Book Game is a thrillingly incisive exploration of the rivalries, envies and passions that can bubble over irrevocably when a group of people who have known each other for a long time are reunited and confined in one house, however sprawling and beautiful that house may be. It is a book about professional jealousy and romantic jealousy, about power and influence and about mastering your desires in the throes of midlife."

Houston and Smyth added: "This is a book about deceit, desire, rivalry and temptation amid even the most idyllic circumstances. We loved writing it, and we hope that comes across on the page."