Candlish's Our House snapped up for screen

Red Planet Pictures has optioned property thriller Our House by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster UK) following an auction.

The London-based independent TV production company bought TV rights in a deal closed by Luke Speed at Curtis Brown Group following an auction, announced days after the book's shortlisting for the crime and thriller category of the British Book Awards. 

Our House has sold over 103,640 copies across all editions according to Nielsen BookScan, and the UK-based production company is working with BAFTA award-winning writer Simon Ashdown on developing a TV adaptation. The title was the first of a two-book deal which S&S UK paid six figures for - Candlish was previously published by Penguin and Little, Brown.

Red Planet Pictures has become renowned as the home of popular drama with hits including Death in Paradise, Dickensian and the much-anticipated forthcoming Austen adaptation Sanditon, from Emmy and BAFTA-Award winning writer Andrew Davies, for ITV.  

The novel follows Fi Lawson who arrives home one day to find a family of strangers moving into her house and her husband, Bram, has disappeared. As the nightmare takes grip, both Bram and Fi try to make sense of the events that led to a devastating crime.

Belinda Campbell, joint m.d. of Red Planet Pictures, said: “Louise’s story of intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal and crime is a compulsive read and we instantly knew it would make an equally compelling piece of TV drama. It’s a narrative that will grip viewers from the very outset and we are thrilled to be working with Louise and Simon who, like us, are all about extraordinary storytelling.  We have some very ambitious plans for the project which has already caused a great ripple of excitement from several quarters.”

Candlish added: “I’m overjoyed that Red Planet Pictures is developing Our House for the screen. From the moment I met Belinda and Simon and we began discussing the terrible, tangled drama of Bram and Fi’s situation, I knew they were the perfect team to bring the story to life for a TV audience.”