Taylor sizes up Chapman's Another Life

Michael Joseph editorial director Jillian Taylor has acquired a story of “love, hope, and the extraordinary capacity of human beings to connect” in a “major deal” from a Curtis Brown Creative novel course graduate.

Taylor bought UK and Commonwealth rights (including audio) in Jodie Chapman’s Another Life, plus a second book. The deal was done with Madeleine Milburn of the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. The book has also been sold to Mondadori in Italy and Penguin Random House/Suma in Spain in “significant” deals and is currently the subject of a “heated” multi-way auction in Germany.    

Another Life centres around Nick, who “falls in love with passionate but troubled Anna, and must choose between finding the courage to follow his heart, or risk letting go of the love of his life”.

Taylor said that Chapman was an “an astonishing new voice in fiction” at the beginning of “an incredible career". She added: "Another Life is a superbly written, beautifully observed account of young love, divided loyalties and the fierce ties of family. It is the kind of book you instantly want to press into the hands of everyone you know.”

Milburn said: "I’m absolutely thrilled to have sold this enchanting debut to Jillian Taylor and the most passionate publishing house. It has resonated with publishers around the world, which is always the sign of a major hit for us.”

Chapman is a 35-year-old photographer who lives in rural Kent. She began writing the novel during a Curtis Brown course she attended in 2016. Another Life is scheduled for a 2021 publication.