Faber snaps up Fíona Scarlett's 'unforgettable' second novel

Faber has landed the latest novel from Fíona Scarlett, May All Your Skies Be Blue, an "unforgettable story of love, loss, regret and the indelible marks one person can make on your life". 

Associate publisher Louisa Joyner acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Sophie Lambert at C&W. 

Joyner commented: "This is such an exciting moment for our publishing of Fíona Scarlett—to see the Irish Book Awards recognise her as a major new talent, to be reaching out to the thousands and thousands of fans who wept buckets for her brilliant debut, to ensure that thousands more people wish they’d invested in waterproof mascara/tissues—we’re all about publishing May All Your Skies Be Blue to grow Fí’s audience to the size she deserves. The sky may be blue but it’s also the limit." 

May All Your Skies Be Blue follows Shauna—the daughter of the new salon owner—and Dean in the summer of 1991.

The synopsis continues: "Instantly inseparable, their friendship blooms. But as time passes and tell-tale blushes and school fights develop into something deeper, conflicting responsibilities threaten to pull Shauna and Dean apart." 

Faber published Boy’s Don’t Cry in 2021. Like her first novel, May All Your Skies Be Blue "details crucial universal topics like grief, sacrifice, illness and missed opportunities in a warm and tender way". She commented: "I’m incredibly excited to finally be able to share my second novel May All Your Skies Be Blue with readers, a story very close to my heart. To be published again is a gift—to be published again by Faber and the extraordinary Louisa Joyner is something I deeply cherish."