Mantle to publish Jennifer Trevelyan’s A Beautiful Family

Mantle has secured debut author Jennifer Trevelyan’s literary coming-of-age story, A Beautiful Family.

Publishing director Madeleine O’Shea acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, from Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown on the eve of London Book Fair and will publish the book in hardback in June 2025 as a lead title. US rights went to Carolyn Williams at Doubleday, in a pre-empt, from Christy Fletcher at UTA, while Australia and New Zealand rights went to Allen & Unwin from Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary — both on behalf of Blunt.

Translation rights are being handled by Sophie Baker and Katie Harrison at Curtis Brown and film rights are with Keya Khayatian and Addison Duffy at UTA.

"Taking place over one long, hot family holiday on New Zealand’s Kapiti coast, A Beautiful Family is compellingly narrated by a 10-year-old girl, whose innocent quest to solve a local mystery leads to the unearthing of family secrets that can never be reburied," the synopsis says.

O’Shea said: "Blending the family dynamics of The Paper Palace [Penguin] with the narrative delights of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep [The Borough Press], Jenny’s debut contains everything I look for in a summer read — secrets, heartbreak, mystery — all told through one of the most unforgettable narrative voices I’ve encountered. This is heart-in-mouth storytelling at its best and I cannot wait to share it with readers."