Salt secures Heneghan's story of 'family fault-lines'

Salt has secured Birdeye by Judith Heneghan, described as an "emotional tale of the family fault-lines".

Director Christopher Hamilton-Emery acquired world rights, including translations, from Jane Finigan at Lutyens & Rubinstein and will publish the novel as a paperback original on 15th May 2024.

The synopsis says: "Liv Ferrars is 67 years old and has lived a full life. Her twin daughters, Mary and Rose, are grown, she has survived breast cancer, and she has welcomed numerous wanderers to the Birdeye Colony she founded with friends Sonny and Mishti over 40 years before... Then one late winter’s morning a stranger named Conor appears.

"That same night Sonny and Mishti make a devastating announcement, and when Mary flies in from London to persuade Liv and Rose to move to England, Liv resists what others see as Birdeye’s inevitable collapse. Conor seems to offer a lifeline, but who is he and what are his motives?"

Heneghan, who teaches creative writing at the University of Winchester, said: "I’m thrilled to be working with the Salt team to bring Birdeye into the world. The novel explores what might have happened to those Woodstock hippies who stayed true to the dream. Salt is a natural fit, and I’m hugely grateful to Chris and Jen Hamilton-Emery and also Jane Finigan at Lutyens & Rubinstein for putting their faith in this story."

Hamilton-Emery added: "This is an emotional, highly evocative tale of the life choices around resistance and non-conformism – the secrets that lie buried under those choices, and their deep legacy within families 50 years on. The novel’s women will haunt your daytime thoughts – sensational storytelling that is masterful and at times simply breath-taking."