Legend lands Fran Hill's 'bittersweet' novel about being a teenager in foster care

Legend Press has snapped up Home Bird, a "bittersweet" novel by Fran Hill.

Commissioning editor Cari Rosen bought world rights directly from the author and the book will be published on 3rd March 2025.

The author was the runner-up of the Paul Torday Memorial Prize for her debut novel Cuckoo in the Nest (Legend Press). Home Bird follows on from the story of the protagonist’s teenage years in that book, but also works as a standalone novel.

The synopsis states: "Bittersweet and funny, Home Bird draws on Fran Hill’s own experiences as a teenager in foster care. Set in 1979, the novel follows 17-year-old Jackie Chadwich who, fresh out of foster care, is desperate to reconnect with her ex-prisoner alcoholic dad. But how many chances should people be given?"

Hill commented: "I knew I wasn’t finished with Jackie Chadwick after Cuckoo in the Nest. As many readers have said, she’s the type of sparky character who lingers in the mind. Also, I wanted to explore what happens when foster children leave care. Often they must juggle a complex web of relationships and loyalties while also left to navigate independent living, establish a home and create an identity for themselves. It can all go belly-up, as Jackie soon finds out and as I found as an older teenager leaving care."

Rosen added: "Fran’s writing manages to be funny and intensely moving at the same time and this new book again shines a spotlight on life in the care system, based on her own experiences. The reaction to Jackie Chadwick has been so fantastic that I couldn’t be more delighted to be publishing this new chapter of her life."