Del Rey to publish debut inspired by Hungarian history

Cornerstone UK’s Del Rey imprint will publish Ava Reid's debut novel, The Wolf and the Woodsman, in June 2021. 

The imprint struck a deal for UK and Commonwealth rights with agent Stephanie Thwaites at Curtis Brown. Harper Voyager will publish in the US, with a global English-language publication date of 8th June 2021. 

The Wolf and the Woodsman is inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology and will tell the story of Évike, the only woman without power in her pagan village. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a girl to sacrifice to the king, she is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when they are attacked en route, Évike and the Woodsman’s captain form a tenuous pact, forcing them both to decide whose side they are on, and what they are willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

Sam Bradbury, senior editor, said: "I’m incredibly excited to be publishing this fantastic debut novel. Ava Reid is a major new talent and the unique blend of adventure, fantasy and romance in her novel, and its exploration of culture, religion, and identity, makes her world and her characters leap from the page. As the novel itself states: stories don’t have to be true to be real, and this one has truth deep in its soul."

Reid said: "I’m thrilled to be working with Sam and the team at Del Rey to publish The Wolf and the Woodsman. One of my goals with this book was to give a Jewish perspective on my favourite fantasy tropes. It is both my love letter to traditional fantasy and a critique of how many of those tropes have traditionally excluded and dehumanised Jewish people. Ultimately I hope that all readers find something to love, relate to, and provoke their curiosity within the pages."