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Manilla Press has acquired The Walled Garden by Sarah Hardy, “a fresh look at World War II and its aftermath” set in a crumbling manor house in Suffolk.
Publisher Margaret Stead acquired world English-language rights in a two-book deal from Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander. It will be published in spring 2023.
The Walled Garden tells the story of Alice Rayne, whose husband Stephen has returned from war a changed man.
Haunted by a secret he can’t live with, he’s angry, bitter and unable to contemplate the future. With the shadow of the war still looming large and the world so drastically changed, as Alice tries to salvage the house—and the walled garden—as well as her fractured marriage, she must look for a new way to live and to love.
Stead said the novel heralds the arrival of a major new voice in historical fiction and added: “Sophie Orme [publishing director] and I read this wonderful novel in an afternoon and knew we had to publish. This is a fresh look at World War II and its aftermath, focusing on the lives of the women left behind, who suffered as deeply as the men sent away to fight. We’re delighted to be publishing The Walled Garden.”
Orme praised the “extraordinary, beguiling novel about the long shadow cast by war and the miracle of human resilience” as “beautifully drawn, deeply compelling [and] heart-rending".
“While historical, it’s a novel that feels particularly apt for these difficult times,” she said. ’
Hardy said: “I was thrilled by the speed with which Manilla Press committed to The Walled Garden, making an instant offer within 24 hours of seeing the manuscript. It’s a privilege working with publishers who are passionately bringing my novel about troubled characters from a rather overlooked period of our history—the aftermath of the Second World War—to a larger audience.
“This traumatic era—when people who’d seen the worst of human nature had to find a way to live and to love once more—has always held a fascination for me. So I was delighted when Margaret Stead and her team felt the same.”