FSG is one of the last old school literary publishers in the US. Their list positively bulges with Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award winners. I'm absolutely thrilled that Hild will be in their company. Thanks to my fabulous new agent, Stephanie Cabot of the Gernert Company, my editor there will be Sean McDonald. Sean edited Stay and Always, so I know the book will be in the best shape possible before it's released into the wild.
You can read the announcement in Publishers Weekly ("...steeped in the beauty and bruality of a different age...")
It's difficult to encapsulate a 200,000-word novel in a single paragraph, but here's my first stab at it:
Seventh century Britain is in transition. Small kingdoms are dissolving and merging. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, and belief. Into this world of war and wyrd is born Hild, king's niece: a child with a glittering mind, powerful curiosity, and will of adamant. Edwin is cunning and ruthless, but Hild is matchless. She carves herself a place as his advisor, a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early medieval age. But kings don't trust anyone, even nieces. And at this level, the stakes are life and death.I think it describes one layer of the book reasonably well, it's just that there are just so many others...
The day the deal was done, I emailed half a dozen friends to say, Drop everything and come to the pub! Jennifer Durham took these pictures:
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| I start sensibly enough |
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| But happiness is thirsty work... |
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| And by the end, I am wild with joy |