Bloomsbury acquires part-memoir 'Mudlark'

Bloomsbury is to publish Mudlark by Lara Maiklem.

Alexis Kirschbaum, newly appointed publishing director at Bloomsbury, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for the title from Sarah Ballard at United Agents after a four-round auction.

For over a decade, Maiklem has pieced together a private collection of London’s discarded objects from the Thames foreshore, "the longest and most varied archaeological site in the world". The publisher said that neolithic flints, Roman hair pins, Tudor buttons and discarded war medals "tell the history of ordinary Londoners of the past that provide clues to a city’s genealogy utterly distinctive from a historian’s vocation".  

Kirschbaum said: “We are thrilled to welcome Lara Maiklem to Bloomsbury. Her passion for mudlarking is infectious, and the stories she can tell about remnants discarded on the Thames foreshore transformed the way I will see London forever. It’s romantic and forensic at once, a spectacular combination, and I expect a huge number of readers to be enchanted and inspired by the story of her collection. I cannot wait to help bring Lara’s rare experience to life. Part memoir, part story of a private passion, and part history of London told through its discarded objects, Lara’s book will offer readers an account of refuge and foraging told from the inside by someone whose passion for her subject lights up almost every sentence.”

Ballard said: "We had an unprecedented amount of interest in Mudlark. Five publishers came to the river with us and took part in a passionate four-round auction - during which we found tens of clay pipes, scores of garnets, hundreds of handmade pins, and much more. I can’t wait to see Alexis’s team at Bloomsbury share that excitement with readers – who will themselves get to pace the shore with Lara."

Maiklem said: "Having been a longtime admirer of Bloomsbury’s independent spirit, I am overjoyed to be working with Alexis and the team and can’t wait to begin what I hope will be a very special, successful, and ultimately muddy, journey with them.’"

Mudlark will be a major publication for Bloomsbury in Spring 2018.