Trapeze snaps up 'jawdropping' thriller from Ashdown

Trapeze will publish an “unsettling thriller” set in Norway from novelist Isabel Ashdown which promises “jawdropping twists and turns”.

Sam Eades, editorial director at the Orion imprint, acquired world rights (all languages) for two more books by Isabel Ashdown in a deal struck by Kate Shaw at The Viney Shaw Agency.

The first book, Lake Child, will be published in spring 2019, set in Norway and London, exploring the "dangerous lengths parents will go to in the name of love" as well as another untitled book described as a "family drama".

Lake Child follows a young Norwegian woman who wakes from an accident missing her most recent memories and trusts her parents’ advice that she must stay confined to her bedroom while she recuperates. However when she breaks out she discovers a world of secrets and lies which force her to question her who her parents really are.

Ashdown has written six novels, the most recent being Little Sister, also published by Trapeze, in April this year – the acquisition was revealed weeks after the imprint’s formation in March 2016. Beautiful Liars (Trapeze) is published in April next year.

Eades said the Orion team have “ambitious plans” for the author and described Lake Child as Flowers in the Attic (a gothic novel by V C Andrews) combined with the BBC’s “The Missing”.

Eades said: “Working with Isabel Ashdown has been a dream come true and I’m thrilled our partnership will continue. Not only is she a brilliant writer, but she is a huge supporter of other authors and has been with Trapeze since launch.

“Lake Child is a gripping and claustrophobic family drama, set in a stunning remote location and filled with Isabel’s trademark jawdropping twists and turns.”

Ashdown, who is based in West Sussex, said: “Characters - and relationships - are at the heart of my writing inspirations, and together with my agent Kate Shaw, Sam has championed my desire to keep pushing the boundaries of this fascination.”

Ashdown has a first class degree in English and an MA in Creative Writing with distinction and is the current Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Chichester.

Lake Child will be published by Trapeze in April 2019 in export trade paperback, e-book and audio with the mass market paperback in summer 2019.