A&U acquires Hardcastle novel for six-figure sum

12 March 2019 Books+Publishing

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Below Deck, the third book by 25-year-old author Sophie Hardcastle.

Zeitgeist Agency director Benython Oldfield sold the book at auction for a six-figure sum to A&U publisher Kelly Fagan.

‘I stayed up all night reading Below Deck and weeks later I’m still lost in its pages. The writing is breathtakingly good, and the scope and impact of the novel is momentous—epic, intimate, nuanced and starkly resonant,’ said Fagan.

Australian-born Hardcastle lives in Oxford and works as a research assistant in the English faculty at Oxford University. She is the author of two previous books: a memoir, Running like China, and YA novel Breathing Under Water (both Hachette).

‘Below Deck is my cry out into the dark for women everywhere,’ said Hardcastle. ‘Our stories have been resting on the ocean floor, wrapped in coils of seaweed for millennia. Only now is the truth bubbling up. It means everything to me that Allen & Unwin are listening and will bring Oli’s story to readers everywhere.’

Oldfield said: ‘The conversations that I’ve had since I first read this beautiful, wild and disturbing novel have been remarkable. Allen & Unwin is the perfect home for this edgy and important book.’

Below Deck will be published in early 2020.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions