Baskerville signs Varese’s Victorian thriller based on the true story of arsenic-laced wallpaper

John Murray’s crime imprint Baskerville has snapped up J M Varese’s “deeply gothic thriller” based on the “sinister” true story of arsenic-laced wallpaper that once filled homes across Britain and Europe. 

Jade Chandler acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to The Company from US agent Jacques de Spoelberch via Andrew Nurnberg Associates, for publication in March 2023. 

The Company, set in the 19th century between Victorian London and Devon, follows Lucy Braithwhite, the daughter and latest generation of Braithwhite & Company wallpapers, as she fights to save the heart of the business and her family.

It is not long until the deceptively beautiful façade begins to crumble, however, exposing a disintegrating industry haunted by its own greed and disregard for human life, as well as a crisis of existential proportions for Lucy. 

Varese, who is a literary historian specialising in the 19th century, and has published widely on Dickens and Victorian literature, said: “The Victorian wallpaper industry, like so many industries, past and present, struggled with that constant tension between making as much money as possible, and doing what is right.

“It was an industry haunted by the ghosts of the many people it killed and maimed, and was all the more sinister because of the extravagant beauty that disguised what lay beneath. I was particularly excited when Jade and Baskerville/John Murray expressed interest in this book (it felt almost eerie), because the influences of Conan Doyle himself on parts of the story are not small.”

Chandler said: “The Company takes us back another half a century and is everything I could wish for in a gothic novel. A wealthy Victorian home haunted by dark secrets; a compelling, ghostly plot; and a nuanced and unforgettable female lead. J M Varese’s deep knowledge and love for the works of Dickens, the Brontës and Henry James have combined to make this an eerie delight."