Doubleday pre-empts new book from historian Miranda Carter

Doubleday has acquired a new book from historian Miranda Carter. In How to Be a Princess: Eight Women, Nine Centuries and a Fairy Tale That Never Was, Carter will take a candid look at a role that has been coveted and romanticised like no other. In the book, Carter will revisit the lives of eight princesses, from the Norman Conquest to the 20th century.

Non-fiction publisher Susanna Wadeson pre-empted UK & Commonwealth rights from Sophie Lambert at C&W Literary Agency while Emily Wunderlich at Viking has acquired North American rights from Lily Dolin and Rebecca Gradinger at UTA on Sophie’s behalf. The book is scheduled for publication in 2027.

Wadeson said: "It is a privilege to be able to work with Miranda. Our obsession with princesses endures. Never mind the realities of today, our daughters still play at being princesses and think that means they can boss life. We idealise princesses, but simultaneously judge them for failing to live up to outdated rules. Over the centuries they’ve wielded huge power, and then been discarded and forgotten; they embody our dreams and all that women have ever been criticised for. I can’t wait for this."

Carter said: "I can’t think of anyone I would rather have editing my book than Susanna Wadeson, whose publishing and books I enormously admire. We’re resurrecting a group of remarkable and resilient women almost completely forgotten by history. I think it’ll be a blast."

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