Kelly returns to HarperFiction in three-book deal

Cathy Kelly is returning to HarperFiction in a three-book deal negotiated by Lynne Drew, publisher for general fiction, with Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown for UK and Commonwealth rights.  Sisterhood, the first book, will publish in February 2024 in the UK, Ireland and Australia. 

Moving "from Ireland’s wild Atlantic coast to the sun-baked shores of Sicily", Sisterhood follows Lou as the events of one night, her 50th birthday party, turn her life on its head. The secret she learns sends her on a road trip with her sister and the events that follow change both their lives forever. Lou needs to work out her relationship with her mother, her sister and her daughter⁠—but most of all she needs to work out how to stand up for her own life. 

HarperCollins said it was running consumer insight research as part of a “major rebranding and relaunch” for the novelist. 

Kelly, who has been published by Orion since 2014, said: “I love telling stories about women’s lives but I’ve longed to write a novel with a bigger canvas and a secret at its heart, a novel that captures the moment when a woman decides to stop pleasing other people and decides that she comes first.” 

Drew added: “Cathy Kelly is a phenomenal storyteller. I’m so excited to be welcoming her back with the most gripping novel she’s ever written, with devastating secrets and two strong women at its heart. This thrilling next stage of her career is going to find her a whole new readership.”