Fig Tree secures Pollard's 'bawdy' tale of sex and power set in 17th century Versailles

Fig Tree has signed the second novel by award-winning poet and translator Clare Pollard, The Modern Fairies, inspired by the real-life adventures of the 17th-century salonnières in King Louis XIV’s court.

Helen Garnons-Williams, publishing director, bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Jenny Hewson at Lutyens & Rubinstein. North American rights have been acquired by Lauren Wein at Avid Reader Press. Publication is scheduled for summer 2024.

The Modern Fairies follows the salonnières (‘salon hosts’) among King Louis XIV’s court: women who helped fund and support writers and artists as well as contributing to the foundation of the French Academy, “shaping the fairy tales we know today” according to Fig Tree.

The blurb reads: “The Modern Fairies is set in Versailles in 1682: a place of opulence, beauty and power. But strip back the lavish exterior of polite society, and you’ll find a dark undercurrent of sexual intrigue and vicious gossip. Nobody is safe here — no matter how highly born they are.

“No one knows this better than Madame Marie d’Aulnoy. Each week, a rogue group of intellectuals gather at her Parisian home to debate, flirt and perform Contes de Fées — fairy tales — that challenge the status quo, at a salon that will change the course of literature forever. But while they weave tales of glass slippers, enchanted beasts and long-haired princesses, a wolf is lurking, who threatens to destroy the members of the salon one by one.”

Fig Tree dubbed the novel “brilliant and bawdy, romantic and provocative... a dazzling novel inspired by real events, about the delights and dangers of storytelling in dark times”.

Garnons-Williams said: “We are overjoyed to be publishing Clare Pollard’s sparkling second novel at Fig Tree. A deliciously irresistible novel about storytelling, written by a consummate storyteller and peopled by characters who fizz like sherbet on the page, it is playful and subversive, wonderfully moving and wildly original.”

Pollard commented: “The Modern Fairies is the book I have always dreamt of writing, and I had a ball. I could hardly believe the adventures of these salonnières, and the chance they offered me to write a sumptuous romantic comedy featuring feminism and fairy tales. I feel very lucky to have Helen at Fig Tree as this book’s fairy godmother.”

Hewson praised the “unputdownable tale of power, sex and class”, describing it “an absolute delight from start to finish”. 

Fig Tree published Pollard’s debut novel, Delphi, in 2022. She is also a published poet and translator.