Wildfire acquires historian's debut on the search for a Jewish homeland outside Palestine

Wildfire has acquired historian Rachel Cockerell’s "genre-bending debut" about the search for a Jewish homeland outside Palestine.

Editorial director Philip Connor acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land from Sabhbh Curran at Curtis Brown, and will publish the book in hardback, e-book and audio on 29th February 2024.

Melting Point is told entirely through first-hand accounts. The synopsis says: "At the dawn of the 20th century, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamt, but to Texas. They are sent by David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell’s great-grandfather. It marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, the forgotten chapter when 10,000 Jews fled to Texas in the lead-up to the First World War.

"The movement is part of a search for an alternative Promised Land by rebel Zionists who believe Palestine is not a viable option. After scouring the earth, from Angola to Antarctica, they surprisingly settle on Texas. In a highly inventive style, the author exclusively uses source material to capture history as it unfolds, weaving together letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper articles and interviews into a vivid account told by those who were there."

Connor said: "What I love most about the book is Rachel’s approach to history, which she recounts using a curated collection of primary sources. Fans of Philippe Sands and Edmund de Waal are sure to love it and readers of Lincoln in the Bardo [Bloomsbury] will recognise something in the book’s experimental style, but I don’t believe you will have read anything that illuminates a historical period quite so well. We couldn’t be prouder to be publishing it."

Cockerell added: "Working with Phil and the team at Wildfire has been incredible. Phil understood my unconventional ambitions for Melting Point from the beginning, and played a huge role in shaping it. My agent, Sabhbh Curran, has done so much for this book—I’m so grateful to her."