Polygon lands 'masterfully plotted' novel from Lecoat

Polygon has landed Beyond Summerland, the "terrific" second novel from Jenny Lecoat. 

Managing director Hugh Andrew acquired world rights from Lisa Highton at Jenny Brown Associates. Rights have also been sold to Graydon House at HarperCollins US, Allen and Unwin in Australia and Lubbe in Germany. The novel will be published by Polygon in July 2024.

"We have already had extremely good pre-empts from option publishers in the US/Canada, Australia and Germany and are now going out to the other territories who I am sure will be equally enthusiastic," said Fiona Brownlee, rights director.

Set in the aftermath of the liberation of the Jersey Channel Island in June 1945, Beyond Summerland is a "tale of long-buried family secrets, of heroism and sacrifice, of mothers and daughters and of how innocent young people caught up in the tide of war try to find themselves a place of safety and love on an island that will never be the same again".

Alison Rae, senior editor, commented: "Beyond Summerland is masterfully plotted, and a nuanced look at redemption and retribution in a unique wartime setting."

Lecoat added: "Absolutely overjoyed to be working once again with Polygon, HarperCollins US and the other publishers around the world who helped to make such a success of my first book. I hope that readers who enjoyed The Girl from the Channel Islands will find the same drama and strong female characters in Beyond Summerland, this time set in the rarely covered period of Jersey’s post war trauma."