Lupton moves to Viking for school siege thriller

Rosamund Lupton, author of bestsellers Sister, Afterwards and The Quality of Silence, has moved from Piatkus to Viking with her new novel about a school siege.

Venetia Butterfield, publishing director of Viking, bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Three Hours from Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown.

The blurb for the title reads: "[Three Hours] is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds. It is a morning at work, a performance of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods. Or it is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible. Or it is infinite when describing the sacrifices we would make for those we love."

Lupton said: "Viking and Venetia Butterfield’s creative vision and commitment to Three Hours is wonderful and I’m delighted to be joining an outstanding list of authors."

Butterfield added: "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be bringing Rosamund Lupton to Viking – she is a writer at the height of her powers. Three Hours is a masterful novel – gripping and incredibly powerful - from the first page not only was I utterly absorbed but intellectually and emotionally engaged with all of the characters. It is heart-thumpingly good and I can’t wait to share it with millions of readers."

Sister, Rosamund Lupton’s first book, was published in 2010 and was a BBC Radio 4 "Book at Bedtime" and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. It was named Richard and Judy’s Best Debut Novel of 2011. Her second novel was Afterwards and most recently she released The Quality of Silence, which was also a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. All three were published by Piatkus.

Three Hours will be released in Autumn 2019.