Gordon reimagines Rapunzel in fiction debut for Orion Children's

Orion Children’s Books has snapped up Bryony Gordon’s fiction debut, a “powerful” YA reimagining of the Rapunzel tale.

Naomi Greenwood, senior commissioning editor at Hachette Children’s Group, acquired world rights to Let Down Your Hair from Nelle Andrew, for publication on 15th September 2022.  

The book sees Gordon drawing on her own teenage struggle with alopecia. The synopsis explains: "Let Down Your Hair follows Barb, a 16-year-old with zero friends IRL, but online, she is popular. Like, several-hundred-thousand-followers popular. Or at least, her hair is popular. Because Barb’s hair is glossy and beautiful. Which is why hair and beauty brands pay her stupid money for a 30-second clip. But most of the time Barb just wants to be a normal teenager. One who isn’t confined to her bedroom on the twelfth floor of the tower block flat she shares with her aunt making content. One who hasn’t thousands of people obsessing over the way she looks. Barb just needs to save up some money to make a new life for herself. But it’s soon clear something isn’t right. Because when Barb runs her fingers over her scalp, she feels something smooth and different. She gets out her mirrors and combs for a video and sees it: a bald patch the size of a ten pence coin, slap bang in the middle of her head. Barb has alopecia."

“I wanted Let Down Your Hair to confront an issue that faces all of us, especially in a social media world of clicks, likes and shares: self-confidence, and how we find worth inside of ourselves, rather than outside of ourselves,” said Gordon, who has also authored The Wrong Knickers (Headline), You Got This (Wren & Rook) and Mad Girl (Headline).

“This may be my first go at fiction, but Barb is very much a character based on my own experiences as a teenager – experiences that continue to shape me even now, in my 40s.”