Farrant ventures into the wilderness in new MG title

Novelist Natasha Farrant is to move into middle grade with a “warm hug of a book” set in the Scottish Highlands.

The Children of Castle Rock follows boarding-school student Alice, who sets off with her friends through the wilds of Scotland in search of her missing father. The book will be published in the UK in April 2018.

Faber editorial director Alice Swan, who acquired UK, Commonwealth and translation rights from Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates, said: “Natasha is such a talent and writes with superb craft, creating characters of such depth and charm. We are honoured to be publishing this warm hug of a novel, in which Natasha proves that the very best storytelling can still be found in contemporary fiction.”

Farrant, who is also a literary scout and has worked in the publishing industry for more than 20 years, has published six YA novels and two for adults.

She is perhaps best known for her Bluebell Gadsby series, for which she was shortlisted for the Queen of Teen Award in 2014 and longlisted for the Guardian Children’s Prize.