HC buys former NHS doctor's 'hopeful' illustrations, poetry and fables

HarperNonFiction has signed a book of illustrations by artist and former NHS doctor Amber Fossey, whose Instagram posts are followed by 185,000 fans.

Editorial director Lydia Good struck a deal for world all language rights with Laura McNeill at Gleam Titles. Be Wild Be Free will publish on 29th October 2020 in a co-publication with HarperOne in the US.

The synopsis says: “This beautiful full-colour illustrated guide to life tells the reader how to become wild and free again, through a mash-up of poetry, fables, comic fiction and whimsical watercolour illustrations. Using the characters of sloth, bear, manatee, blob fish, and many more, this is a book that explores coping with negative thoughts, feelings, and insecurities, which readers all around the world will be able to relate to.”

Fossey, known as ZeppelinMoon to her Instagram followers, worked as a psychiatric mental health doctor for the NHS before taking a career break to become a full-time artist. 

She said: “I am not all these animals, but I aspire to be. I am a little bit of them, and the rest is hope; a universal kind of hope. I want to think and feel like them, without doubt, fear and burden. So I wrote their stories, and in doing so I hope they rub off on me; and you.”

Good added: “I was instantly blown away by Be Wild Be Free and knew that we had the opportunity to publish something really special. Amber’s wonderful, unique and quirky illustrative style stands out within this genre; coupled with her lyrical and thought-provoking musings, this beautiful gift book will remind us to listen, to look, to feel, and to remember what it means to be human.”