Bedford Square bags rights to journalist Julia Raeside’s debut novel

Bedford Square will publish journalist Julia Raeside’s debut novel Don’t Make Me Laugh.

Jamie Hodder-Williams acquired UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Charlotte Atyeo at Greyhound Literary. The novel will be published in February 2025.

Hodder-Williams said: “Don’t Make Me Laugh is a conversation-starting novel. It is dark but entertaining, deftly combining anger and humour in a way that will have readers talking long after they’ve been propelled to the novel’s brilliant Edinburgh Festival denouement."

Raeside said: “In the rom-coms I love, the girl ends up with the funny guy. But what if the self-deprecating jokes masked a controlling monster? What if the doofus is Dracula? We know clowns are sinister, so why do we keep falling for them? I had a blast taking that idea for a walk in Don’t Make Me Laugh and hope readers will enjoy the ride too.”

Raeside is a journalist and broadcaster who has been published in most UK newspapers and contributes to BBC Radio shows such as "Front Row" and the "Today Programme".