John Murray signs Griffiths’ ‘powerful’ novel Promise in first acquisition for Battle-Felton 

Award-winning poet, photographer and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ novel Promise has been snapped up by John Murray.

In her first acquisition since joining John Murray last year, commissioning editor Yvonne Battle-Felton acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to the novel from Jennifer Bernstein at The Wylie Agency. It is scheduled for publication on 6th July 2023.

Set in 1957 at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, the publisher describes Promise as “a rich, powerful and beautifully complex celebration of sisterhood, family, and love set in a small-town community in New England".

Its synopsis goes on: “Ezra and Cinthy Kindred have grown up surrounded by love; love from their parents, who let them believe that the stories they tell on stars can come true; love from their neighbours, the Junketts, the only other Black family in town, whose home is filled with spice-rubbed ribs and ground-shaking hugs; and love for their adopted hometown of Salt Point, a beautiful New England village perched high up on coastal bluffs.

“But as the sisters come of age, they are increasingly viewed as threats to the white villagers’ way of life and, amid escalating violence, prejudice and fear, must find new ways to celebrate their love and power, as a changing world attempts to strip them, and their families, of dignity, safety and hope.”

Written for her mother, after her death in 2014, Promise took Griffiths over seven years to write. She said: “Jolene Kindred and her mother Ginny Abbott carry much of my mother’s spirit, keeping her close to me…I hope that readers are drawn to the strength, vulnerability and love that Promise offers. Whether family, by blood or chosen, I would love to add this story to the growing ways we attempt to expand our knowledge of love in the face of a difficult world.”

Battle-Felton said: “From the moment I started reading Promise, I knew I wanted to be a part of its journey to readers. Ghosts, sisters, innocence and the loss of it, a family trying to survive life in a rural town and the racism that comes with it, Promise is the sort of book that grabs your heart, mind and soul. The writing is compelling, and Eliza is full of joy. I’m delighted that Promise is my first acquisition and proud that John Murray is publishing this book."

Griffiths added: “I’m thrilled to join the celebrated history and legacy of John Murray/Hachette. To have Dr Yvonne Battle-Felton as my editor, is an honour and a dream. Her enthusiasm, brilliance, and prowess is palpable. I’m excited to share our literary visions with a wide, strong community of readers.”

Griffiths’ recent hybrid collection of poetry and photography, Seeing the Body (W W Norton), was selected as the winner of the 2021 Hurston/Wright Foundation Award in Poetry, the winner of the 2020 Paterson Poetry Prize, and a finalist for the 2021 NAACP Image Award. Griffiths’ work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Best American Poetry, Tin House, and other publications.