Cornish writer Carthew's adult debut to Quercus

Literary Quercus imprint riverrun is publishing the first adult novel by Cornish writer Natasha Carthew, All Rivers Run Free, in March 2018.

The "lyrical" novel is about marginalisation, mental illness and motherhood and is set on the ravaged, near-future coast of Cornwall, imagining what family looks likes in a world breaking apart.

Rose Tomaszewska at riverrun, who acquired world rights in all languages from Juliet Mahoney at Lutyens Rubinstein, said the writer had brought ongoing discussions within the industry around diversity into sharper focus for her.

"The voice in All Rivers Run Free is fierce, startling and original, and it hit me on every page," said Tomaszewska. "It’s a breathtaking novel that plays with prose and brings a savage nature into the characters’ lives. Natasha’s not the kind of writer you come across every day – in fact she makes me think more about what publishing means by ‘diversity’. I believe we should be diverse in geography and class and this novel has something striking to say about both."

Carthew, a Carnegie Award nominee who has been published both as a poet and a young adult writer, said: "When I was writing All Rivers Run Free I realised early on that I was writing something a little different from what was regularly being published, a book that needed to be treated with tenderness and affection and this is exactly what Rose Tomaszewska and riverrun offered."