Category: News

Orenda Books is to publish Katie Allen’s debut novel Everything Happens for a Reason, secured in a two-book deal.

Karen Sullivan, publisher, acquired world English language rights for the novel and a second untitled book in a deal negotiated with Caroline Hardman at Hardman & Swainson.

Described as “heart-rending” and “exquisitely moving”, the novel in inspired by the author’s own experiences. It follows a mother after her son is stillborn and her obsession with finding the reason behind the phrase “everything happens for a reason”.

Sullivan said: “I read this book almost a year ago, long before it was sent out on submission, and nearly choked with excitement. Everything Happens for a Reason is that very special book, one that a publisher has to publish, a book that made me weep and laugh uncontrollably, but also fall in love – with the characters, the absurdities, the warmth and humour, the poignancy, and the original format. The writing is exquisite. I sent it to every member of the team and we were unanimous in our enthusiasm and determination to publish this beautiful book. It’s one of the most heart-rending portraits of grief I have ever read but also rich in delightfully zany humour.

“This is a joy of a book – simultaneously uplifting and searingly painful, able to make the reader laugh out loud and, within the turn of a phrase, strike straight at the heart. I cannot wait to publish this exceptional debut.”

The synopsis explains: “Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn and she finds herself on maternity leave with no baby. When someone tells her that ‘Everything happens for a reason’, she becomes obsessed with finding that reason, driven by grief and convinced that she is somehow to blame. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she’d stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and becomes certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son. Desperate to find him, she enlists an unlikely ally in Lola, an Underground worker, and Lola’s seven-year-old daughter, Josephine, and eventually tracks him down, with very unexpected results.”

Allen, who is a journalist at the Guardian, said: “I am so excited to have found a home with Karen and the rest of the team at Orenda – a home for me as a writer and a home for my characters. I knew it was risky to write about something so deeply personal, and painful, and then send it out into the world. But Karen understood my character, her grief and her story straight away and now I am thrilled to be working with Orenda to share that story with readers.

“When someone texted me that ‘Everything happens for a reason’ after our son was stillborn, the words infuriated and fascinated me in equal measure. Can we really explain everything that happens? Are we unable to accept that some things just happen? The phrase has stayed with me and out of it my character Rachel was born and her dogged attempts to make sense of a massive loss. Like Rachel, until our son died, I really believed stillbirth was something that happened decades and centuries ago but rarely now. Of course, a big part of me while pregnant just didn’t allow me to believe it could happen. But tragically, it still happens every day and when we shy away from that, it only deepens the sense of isolation that many grieving parents feel. This story is unique to my character, but the grief she feels is not.”

Everything Happens for a Reason will be released in June 2021, with the second novel to follow later.

Karen Sullivan, Publisher of Orenda Books, is delighted to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for Sarah Sultoon’s stunning debut thriller The Source, in a deal negotiated with Jon Wood of RCW Literary Agency.

Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives with her alcoholic mother in a squalid home, in a disenfranchised, poverty-stricken town in the East of England, taking on the care of her baby sister and dependent upon the infrequent largesse of her older brother, who lives in the local army barracks. When he offers a solution to their money problems, Carly and her teenaged friend grab it, despite her unease. What ensues is both heartbreaking and traumatic. In the modern day, an intrepid news team sets a trap to snare a group of sex traffickers, but their investigations are thrown off track when the police announce the reopening of a historic sex abuse case, involving a number of high-powered individuals. As the two timelines merge, the plot spirals towards an utterly chilling series of events that change everything.

Karen says, ‘This is an extraordinarily accomplished debut, with some of the most convincing dialogue I’ve ever read and a cast of incredibly memorable characters. While the subject matter is timely, sobering and immensely thought-provoking, forcing us to confront and understand the plight of so many young women who have faced abuse by the people they should be able to trust the most, it’s also a nail-biting, dark thriller – fast-paced and exquisitely tense. With multiple themes of corruption and abuse (of people and of power), this could be a “worthy” read, yet it’s anything but. At its heart are powerful messages of hope, resilience and self-belief, conquering the odds, and this all combines to create a book that is the very definition of unputdownable, set in the world of news media that its award-winning, ex-CNN journalist and international news executive, Sarah Sultoon, knows intimately. Not surprisingly, this brilliant book is currently in development for TV with Lime Street Pictures.

‘The Source fits our small list perfectly, and represents the kind of bold, challenging and memorable publishing we hope to achieve. I cannot wait to publish this book, and, of course, to see how its multitudinous, fabulously rich characters and themes will translate to the screen. We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to Team Orenda.’

Sarah Sultoon says, ‘In 15 years as a journalist I worked in a world where speaking truth to power, giving voice to the voiceless and holding authority to account was both a crucial and respected public service. Yet now we live in a world where journalists themselves are legitimate targets, where the facts themselves are presented as alternative, and where information is being weaponised by state-sponsored enemies of truth. The Source is, in part, my response to the horrific abuses originally covered up in Rochdale and Rotherham, and an attempt to hold power to account through the medium of fiction at a time when it has never been more important. I am enormously thrilled and heartened to have found a partner in Orenda, a publishing house as devoted to emotional truth as the news business is to pursuit of the facts.’

Jon Wood says, ‘The Source is just a hugely intense, visceral and gripping story. Sarah’s novel felt so powerful and immediately relevant from the first time I picked it up and I was not remotely surprised that TV rights were snapped up.  I’m now delighted that Orenda – who are so consistently brilliant at finding new original talents – have done the same. This is the beginning of something truly special.’

The Source will be published in Spring 2021 by Orenda Books. For more information, please contact Karen@orendabooks.co.uk.