S&S Children’s launches YA feminist fantasy from Bates

Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has acquired a “blockbuster” fantasy duology from author and feminist commentator, Laura Bates.

Fiction publisher Lucy Pearse acquired world all-language rights from Abigail Bergstrom at Bergstrom Studio in a two-book deal. US rights have been sold to Sourcebooks and it is a lead title for the team at Bologna Children’s Book Fair.  

Pitched as a highly commercial blockbuster fantasy for fans of Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo, Sisters of Sword and Shadow is an alternative Arthurian legend, exploring what might happen if the fellowship of the round table had an all-female counterpart. Cass, destined for marriage, is whisked away by a mysterious woman and introduced to the Fellowship of the Silk Knights, a secret group of women working to protect people plagued by the wars of men. Drawn into a world of ancient feuds, glorious battles and deadly intrigue, Cass discovers she holds a power that could change the destiny of her sisterhood.

Pearse said: “Cass is a heroine to fall in love with and of course, no other author than Laura could write such a character, empowered by her sisterhood to fulfil her destiny. Publishing Laura in to this genre is a hugely exciting move for her fiction writing and we cannot wait to make Sisters of Sword and Shadow the next fantasy blockbuster.”

Bates added: "I grew up obsessed with Arthurian legends, but never saw myself represented within them... I can’t wait for readers to meet my kick-ass fellowship of female knights, and to ask new questions about power, courage and the stories we tell about the past."

Bates is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project. She writes regularly for publications including the New York Times, the Guardian and the Telegraph and is a regular contributor to the "Today Programme", "Woman’s Hour", "Channel 4 News", "Newsnight" and more. She has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Honours List for services to gender equality. Her non-fiction for adults includes Everyday Sexism, Misogynation, Girl Up, Men Who Hate Women and Fix the System, Not the Women, and she has also penned a novel for teens, The Burning. 

Backed by a world-building marketing and PR campaign, Sisters of Sword and Shadow will publish in royal hardback in November 2023, with a cover created by The British Book Awards’ Designer of the Year 2022, Micaela Alcaino, soon to be revealed.