Latest Fifty Shades instalment, 'Freed', set for June

The latest in E L James’ Fifty Shades series, Freed, will be published on 1st June this year, exploring the challenges of the marriage between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele as “as old rivalries and resentments endanger them both”. The novel is the last in the trilogy exploring the relationship from Grey's point of view.
 
Selina Walker, publisher of Century at Penguin Random House UK has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in a deal struck with Valerie Hoskins of VHA Ltd in London. Freed  will be published in paperback, e-book and audiobook with a simultaneous release by Sourcebooks in North America. It will be published on 1st June 2021, marking the latest in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy which has sold 150 million copies worldwide according to the publisher.  Freed will be published simultaneously by the Bloom Books imprint of Sourcebooks in North America. 
 
“In Freed, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele tie the knot––but marriage brings its own challenges,” Century said. “Though their passion burns hotter and deeper than ever, Ana’s defiant spirit continues to stir Christian’s darkest fears and tests his need for control. As old rivalries and resentments endanger them both, one misjudgement threatens to tear them apart.” 
 
James said: “I am thrilled to announce the publication date for Freed. This story has been a labour of love, one that my readers have been eagerly awaiting. For me, just as for Anastasia Steele, Christian is a challenging, infuriating, and endlessly fascinating character. Living in his head is exhausting, but I got to explore aspects of his life in Freed that we only glimpsed in the original trilogy, and to follow his emotional growth in response to Ana’s love and compassion.”  
 
Walker commented: “‘As we emerge from lockdown, what could be better than weddings, holidays and romance, Freed  has all this and more. Erika brings so much that’s new and fresh to each of her novels, and Freed is no exception, as Christian finally faces down the demons of his past and finds enduring love with Ana. This is a total joy of a novel.” 
 
After 25 years of working in television, James began writing the bestselling romance series Fifty Shades of Grey. In total James has sold 12.9 million books for £58m in the UK via Nielsen BookScan, with Fifty Shades of Grey the bestselling book since BookScan records began, on 4.7 million copies sold in paperback. Grey, the first title told from the point of view of Christian Grey, sold 1.1 million copies on release in 2015. Sequel Darker sold 251,486 copies in total, released in 2017. And 2019 standalone The Mister has shifted 182,330 copies in paperback to date.

James was a producer on each of the three Fifty Shades film adaptations. She lives with her husband, the novelist and screenwriter Niall Leonard, in west London.