Finnigan’s ‘beautifully written’ new novel goes to Sphere

The latest novel by Judy Finnigan, author and book club champion, has been signed by Sphere.

Deputy managing director and Sphere executive publisher Cath Burke and senior commissioning editor Rosanna Forte acquired world rights to Roseland from Luigi Bonomi at Luigi Bonomi Associates. Sphere will publish Roseland in November 2023.

Described as “beautifully written with strong echoes of du Maurier’s Rebecca”, the novel follows Cathy as she returns to the Cornish ancestral home of her deceased best friend, Eloise, after the love of Eloise’s life announces he is getting married.

The synopsis continues: “Roseland is a house brimming with history and secrets, secrets that Jack’s unpopular wedding threatens to expose. But is his new bride really the imposter everybody claims, or are they merely haunted by memories of Jack’s first love? And how can Cathy look to the future, when the past refuses to let go?”

Burke said: “Judy Finnigan for the past 20 years has been the most magnificent champion of books and reading. With Roseland, Judy has delivered a hugely atmospheric page-turner and I know it is a novel book clubs everywhere will want to talk about.”

Forte said: “Cornwall, with its sun-glittered coastline and Celtic mysticism, is beautifully evoked.”

Finnigan, whose previous two novels – Eloise and I Do Not Sleep – were also published by Sphere, said: “I’m delighted to have brought back the characters from my first novel, Eloise. I wanted to explore what happened to her beloved daughters and their father, Jack, 10 years after her tragic death. As ever, beautiful Cornwall gifted me the mystical atmosphere to describe the Trelawney family crisis as an interloper threatens to destroy their idyllic life at historic Roseland.”