A&U acquires Bagwell’s memoir

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world English rights to Letter from Provence by Sheryle Bagwell, via Margaret Connolly and Associates.

In the memoir, Bagwell recounts buying a stone house in Provence and, in the attic, finding an old edition of collected letters by renowned 17th-century French writer Madame de Sévigné. ‘So begins Sheryle’s own journey of discovery – not just of Madame de Sévigné’s fascinating times – but [also] of her own new life in southern France, dealing with an ageing house, irascible neighbours, and a complicated language,’ said the publisher.

Bagwell is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. She has lived and worked in Australia and Europe for more than 30 years and is the author of My French Connection (HarperCollins, 2007). Bagwell and her husband now divide their time between Sydney and their village house in Provence.

She said, ‘I see my book as a blend of memoir, travel, and history. I was inspired to write it after finding an old, tattered edition of the Selected Letters of Madame de Sévigné in the attic of the village house we’d just bought in Provence. Serendipitously, I discovered that her daughter had lived in the same grand chateau that we passed most days on the way to our village; it was also where Madame de Sévigné had died during a visit in 1696.

‘My memoir is a sort of homage to de Sévigné and her devotion to her daughter, to whom she wrote nearly every day. It is also a love letter to my own long-dead mother, who had always wanted to visit France but died before she had the chance. It was her dream that had led me to this village in Provence.’

Publisher Sally Heath said, ‘I devoured Sheryle’s manuscript as soon as it landed on my desk. It is a beautiful universal story: a love letter to Sheryle’s mother, interweaving the devotion of a mother to her daughter of an earlier century. And of course, there is the gloriousness of Provence and the hiccups that come with moving to another country with set traditions and lingua franca.’

A&U plans to publish Letter from Provence in March 2026.

Photo credit: Michelle Mossop.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions