Viking snaps up Airey's 'compulsive' debut in six-figure pre-empt

Viking has pre-empted a “deeply compulsive” debut from Catherine Airey in a six-figure deal. 

Isabel Wall, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Scream School from John Ash at CAA in a six-figure pre-empt, in less than 24 working hours after it was submitted. It will publish in January 2025.

The synopsis says: “Scream School is an immersive, ambitious and deeply compulsive debut following three generationsof women from New York City to County Donegal, Ireland. 

“In New York, 2001, 16-year-old Cora Brady finds herself an orphan in the wake of her father’s death as the World Trade Center falls. Then a letter arrives from her mother’s sister, an aunt she didn’t know existed, inviting her to come and stay in Burtonport, County Donegal. The name jogs something in Cora’s mind, a memory she can’t quite place—until she remembers an old cassette game she used to play as a child, a game in which two sisters try to save the inhabitants of a boarding school before it’s too late. Scream School.” 

Wall said: “I devoured Scream School, transfixed by Catherine Airey’s spectacular storytelling, her characters who feel so alive. Scream School has the epic scale and rich texture of modern classics like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch [Abacus] and novels by Jonathan Franzen and Jonathan Safran Foer. I feel immensely proud and fortunate to be publishing Catherine Airey at Viking.”

Airey added: “I couldn’t believe how quickly Isabel Wall at Viking read and responded to Scream School. Her connection to the characters and story proved right away that she was going to handle the book with passion and care. To be published by Viking is a dream come true, and I’m so lucky to have such a sharp agent, John Ash, by my side.”