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The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins, has won a two-way auction for the “dark” literary debut from Clare Cavenagh. Suzie Dooré, editor-at-large for The Borough Press, has won the auction for Clare Cavenagh’s debut Tillinghast, in a UK and Commonwealth rights deal (excluding Canada) with Judith Murray at Greene and Heaton. In the US, Gráinne Fox sold NA rights to Nidhi Pugalia at Viking. UK publication will be in June 2026.
The synopsis reads: “Tillinghast is a dark and utterly original literary novel with a tinge of horror. The eponymous protagonist lives a solitary life, and for many decades what little human contact he allows himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody. You and I would have a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it. One day, a girl arrives. She is sick – very sick – and Tillinghast recognises her symptoms all too well. Which means he also knows what she needs.”
Cavenagh said: “I’m very excited to be working with Suzie, Beth and the whole Borough Press team to bring Tillinghast to readers – it’s a dream come true, and I can’t wait to get started. I’m so grateful to them, and to my agent, Judith, for their enthusiasm and support. Working on this story has long been a very pleasurable secret, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens when Tillinghast makes his way out into the wider world.”
Dooré said: “I first heard about this novel on the publishing grapevine, from an agent who had been desperate to take Clare on. After hurried condolences I immediately emailed Judith – it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good – and it was love at first page, albeit a pretty dark, twisted kind of love. Clare is an incredible new talent, and we are all head over heels for this singular and spellbinding novel.”
Murray said: “This is Clare Cavenagh’s first novel but it doesn’t feel like it – she is such a very good and assured writer, and the voice of her protagonist – the eponymous Tillinghast – is so arresting and – strangely – appealing, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the terrible things he has done and goes on to do in the novel. I am thrilled that Suzie and Beth and the Borough team are as enthralled by Clare’s writing and her creation Tillinghast as I am, and can’t wait for other readers to be as surprised, disquieted, and yet also delighted as I was in my reading of the novel.”