HQ pre-empts Amman Brar’s portrayal of the Post Office scandal

HQ has pre-empted Mr Sidhu’s Post Office and one other novel by debut author Amman Brar.

Publisher Manpreet Grewal acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Nicola Chang at David Higham Associates. The book will be published in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio in summer 2025.

“Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is a story of community and family, an emotional portrayal of the Horizon scandal, and a moving portrait of the immigrant and diaspora experience,” the synopsis says. “It’s 2007, and Mr Sidhu is the sub-postmaster of the local post office in Richmond. He’s grieving the passing of his wife, but when he starts developing feelings for his co-worker Rose, everything begins to change – including his relationship with his two grown-up children.”

The synopsis adds: “And then Mr Sidhu’s weekly Post Office accounts begin reporting a loss. He doesn’t know what’s happening or where that money has gone, but as the collective losses increase, Mr Sidhu has no way of paying it back. Will this be the end of Mr Sidhu’s Post Office?”

Grewal said: “My parents ran a local Post Office for 30 years, Mr Sidhu bears more than a striking resemblance to my own dad, and lots of the Punjabi mannerisms feel like home to me. So to say this book spoke to me on a personal level is an understatement. But it didn’t move only me – my inbox filled up with excited emails as soon as I circulated the manuscript, and the whole HQ team has fallen for Mr Sidhu.”

Brar added: “Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is a personal story about the love my father had in running his sub-Post Office for over 20 years [...] I knew that it would be impossible to write about a sub-Post Office without including the Post Office scandal, which has affected the lives of so many. I am looking forward to readers meeting Mr Sidhu and all the characters he serves, including Rose who turns his life upside down by setting his heart on fire.”