Fig Tree lands Dastur's 'debut of extraordinary grace'

Fig Tree has landed Rupert Dastur’s "luminous" debut novel, Cloudless.

Publishing director Helen Garnons-Willams acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Emma Leong at Janklow & Nesbit. The book will be published in spring 2025.

"Rupert’s debut is one of poise and great compassion; a wise chronicle of the human heart," said Leong.

The synopsis for Cloudless reads: "It is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, a family endures the agonising wait for their son to return from his first six-month tour of Iraq. His decision to join up has left them reeling, yet there are other pressing concerns to be met at home: the working of the farmland that has been theirs for generations, and what to do with their troubled younger son. John, the father, falls further into his once carefully concealed gambling habit, even as the farm sits on the brink of bankruptcy. And Catrin, the boys’ doting mother, begins an affair with an old flame from the city and glimpses a life entirely different from her own. As each member of the family grasps at their own tenuous lifeline, they drift further from each other – until one fateful knock at the door."

Dastur’s debut is written with "exquisitely calibrated prose" and includes excerpts from the Chilcot report and the Iraq Body Count, a database of "violent civilian deaths" recorded since the 2003 invasion.

Dastur commented: "I am delighted to join Fig Tree and feel so grateful to Emma for finding the perfect home for Cloudless. Helen and Ella are editors of outstanding care, precision, and humour. It’s very exciting to be sharing the story of Catrin, John, and their two sons."

Garnons-Williams added: "We are beyond thrilled to welcome Rupert Dastur to Fig Tree. Cloudless is a debut of grace and skill that blends the personal and the political to pack an emotional punch. The meticulous attention Rupert pays both to our human dramas and to the natural world makes for a mesmerising read."