Renard gallops off with Vaught's Zebra fable

Renard Press has netted The Zebra and Lord Jones, an "enchanting" novel set during the Second World War by writer and columnist Anna Vaught.

Publisher Will Dady acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Kate Johnson of Wolf Literary. Publication is scheduled for 27th September 2023.

Described as "an unusual and sweeping fable", the novel is set in the first half of the 20th century across different countries, but takes place largely in a tiny corner of south-west Wales. Starring real historical figures and addressing hard themes of colonialism, class, the suppression of indigenous culture and exploring intergenerational trauma, the novel was inspired by Carel Weight’s 1941 painting "Escape of the Zebra from the Zoo During an Air Raid".

"A listless aristocrat, Lord Jones, finds himself in London during the Blitz, attending to insurance matters," the synopsis reads. "A zebra and her foal, having escaped from London Zoo during a bombing, cross his path, and he decides to take them back to his estate in Pembrokeshire. Little loved by his fascist-sympathiser parents, something in Lord Jones softens, and he realises he is lost, just like these zebras. The arrival of the zebras sparks a new lease of life on the Pembrokeshire estate, and it is not only Lord Jones but the families his dynasty has displaced that benefit from the transformation. 

"Full of heart and mischief, The Zebra and Lord Jones is a hopeful exploration of class, wealth and privilege, grief, colonialism, the landscape, the wars that men make, the families we find for ourselves, and why one lonely man stole a zebra in September 1940 – or perhaps why she stole him."

Dady said: "I’m absolutely delighted to have acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to Anna Vaught’s enchanting third novel The Zebra and Lord Jones. On the surface it’s a compelling tale, based in fact, about a zebra that escaped from London Zoo during the Blitz. But as Anna hints in the opening pages, it’s not only about that, and it’s not ‘just’ a true story. 

"What really struck me is what’s going on under the surface – there’s a wealth of humour, love, compassion, outrage, there’s connection – animal and human, war, class, colonialism, family — you come away the richer for spending time in some of the characters’ company, and it’s such a timely antidote to the war-torn, belligerent times we live in."

Johnson added: "I’ve long been full of admiration and astonishment at the imaginative places Anna goes with her writing. In The Zebra and Lord Jones she takes real history and swirls it with a whimsy that lets her tackle war and exile, wealth and privilege, fascism and fate. The result gives us hope for our discordant days."

Vaught is an English teacher, mentor, editor and author of several books. Her short creative works and features have been widely published, and she has written for the national press alongside a column for The Bookseller and Mslexia.

In 2022 she launched The Curae, a new literary prize for carers. She is also a guest university lecturer, a tutor for Jericho Writers, and volunteers with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Zebra and Lord Jones is her seventh book.