Little Island pre-empts Hornak TV rights

Little Island Productions has pre-empted the television rights to Francesca Hornak’s debut novel Seven Days of Us, the story of a family forced to endure a seven-day quarantine over Christmas, after their elder daughter returns from Africa where she has been in contact with a life-threatening virus. The book will be published in October by Little, Brown in the UK. Penguin is the US publisher.

Little Island Productions was founded in 2013 by television producer Helen Flint. Producer Suzan Harrison is Little Island’s head of development, and the development coordinator is Bryony Cunningham.

Harrison said: "Francesca has created a captivating and beautifully written story, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to work with her. Seven Days of Us is a multi-character exploration of our world today that effortlessly moves between the darkness of a humanitarian crisis, and the love and lightness of a family Christmas. We are incredibly lucky to have such a rich text to work with, and to collaborate with Ann Evans and all at Jonathan Clowes."

German rights to Seven Days of Us have been sold to Ullstein in Germany, to Tammi in Finland, Mondadori Libri in Italy, Cappelen Damm in Norway, Bertrand in Portugal, HarperCollins in Poland, and Keter in the Hebrew language. An auction for Swedish rights is underway.

Hornak is a journalist and writer, best known for her column History Of The World In 100 Modern Objects, which ran in The Sunday Times Style Magazine.