An Ordinary House by Rae Starling

The road to publication for this dark thriller by Rachel Sargent

An Ordinary House began life as my PhD project at the University of Birmingham where I studied for three years from 2020. My thesis was a creative and critical study of how the media, and the general public via social media, sometimes take the experience of a survivor of a traumatic ordeal and perpetuate their own versions of and opinions on that survivor’s story.

The creative part was a novel called Time on the Lightbox. I chose the title because my main character, seventeen-year-old Scholar, is held captive in a house and his only escape is to watch a black and white portable TV, which he calls the Lightbox. After he is rescued, journalist Kim Steel hounds him and his foster mother, spinning facts to make clickbait headlines. Scholar also has to contend with mean-spirited keyboard warriors on social media. As well as reading outrageous opinion pieces and false rumours, he faces shocking memories that threaten to send him spiralling out of control.

After my thesis was passed with no corrections, I gleefully sent the novel to my agent. Unfortunately, she didn’t like it… really didn’t like it, and we parted company, albeit amicably.

I’d sent it to her too soon; a draft that found favour as a doctoral thesis was unlikely to fit the bill as a commercial novel. I rewrote it, changed the name to Beech Avenue Five and sent the first three chapters and a synopsis to an agent recommended by my professor.

The agent didn’t take me on, but she gave me two paragraphs of advice on how I could develop the novel. A rejection like that is gold dust and I duly worked through her recommendations.

I sent the revised chapters to another agent, who replied in a few days and asked for the full manuscript. She read that quickly, too. It was another no, but again it was a rejection with useful feedback.

After more updating, I send my submission package to Greenstone, a new literary agency I’d heard about in the Bookseller magazine. One of the partners, Laura Heathfield, got in touch. This time when I sent the full revised manuscript, it was a yes!

I signed with Laura and so began the detailed process of working with her to polish the book. There was also a final read-through from Tanera Simons, another Greenstones partner, to cast her all-important first-read eye over the novel.  

Finally, it went on submission to publishers, and we got a super response from Jennie Ayres at Hera Books, an imprint of Canelo. Laura worked hard to negotiate the contract to the satisfaction of all parties, then my work started on Jennie’s detailed structural and line edits, with additional edits from four more Hera/Canelo editors after that.

The team at Hera came up with a new pen name for me – Rae Starling – plus a striking cover and the perfect title, An Ordinary House.

When the deal was announced, Jennie said, “This was the darkest, most unforgettable book to cross my desk this year and I was absolutely stunned by the compelling plotline and finely drawn characterisation. It is a one-sitting, up-all-night read and a visceral portrait of trauma, survival and recovery – but more importantly, a twisty, gripping thriller. If Room and Girl A had a baby, it would be this book. Not for the faint of heart, it will stay with you long after reading.”

About An Ordinary House

Police raid an ordinary house in a quiet suburban street and find a traumatised teenager held captive with his family. They call him a survivor, but he doesn’t know what to believe. His memories don’t match what his siblings and the press tell him about his home.

As he struggles to make sense of his new world, he must find and face the truth.

With one of his siblings set on revenge, should he forget his family, or turn from victim to killer?

The book comes out in the US on 1 September and 3 September in the UK available from Amazon UK ebook Amazon UK paperback Amazon US ebook Amazon US paperback and bookshops.