Sphere snares Burn’s historical novel about fossil mania in the 1820s

Sphere has signed The Bone Hunters by Joanne Burn, an “exquisite, expansive” historical novel about fossil mania in Lyme Regis in the 1820s.

Senior commissioning editor Rosanna Forte acquired world rights from Ella Kahn at Diamond, Kahn and Woods. Sphere will publish in hardback in early 2024.

Described as The Essex Serpent (Serpent’s Tail) meets “Ammonite”, the publisher says The Bone Hunters “plunges the reader into the tumultuous world of 19th century Dorset, where a young woman is about to make an extraordinary discovery”.

Its synopsis continues: “When Ada Winters finds the fossilised remains of an unrecognisable creature up on the cliffs, she believes she has found the answer to her scientific ambitions and her family’s financial struggles. Meanwhile, Doctor Edwin Moyle has come to Dorset in search of the discovery that will bring him fame and fortune, and instead finds a strange young woman who seems to hold the key to everything he seeks. But what is the creature that Edwin and Ada are about to unearth? And will it bring them greatness or destruction?”

Forte said: “Joanne’s prose is dazzling, her research impeccable, her sense of place and character second-to-none.”

Burn, author of The Hemlock Cure, published by Sphere in 2022, said: ‘I’m delighted to be working with Rosanna again, and the team at Sphere. The Bone Hunters has found a wonderful home.”

Kahn added: “It’s been brilliant to see the response to The Hemlock Cure, due in no small part to Rosanna and Sphere’s committed and creative publishing.”