Tag: HarperCollins

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.

Rae Starling is the new penname for Rachel Sargeant, who writes the Gloucestershire Crime Series, published by Hobeck Books, plus thrillers with HarperCollins, including the top-ten-Kindle-bestseller The Perfect Neighbours.

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

My introduction to Sarah Pinborough’s work came recently as a dramatisation of her book Behind Her Eyes on Netfilx. I was totally hooked and bought the book. After listening to her talk about her life and career on a podcast my fandom was complete. And so to Dead To Her published this month (10 June).

This is a very different book but there are some similarities not least in the quality of the writing and perfect plotting. Set in the world of the Savannah GA elite, Dead To Her introduces you to a world of glamour, secrets, voodoo, retribution, lust, love, loyalty, lots of sex followed by betrayal and deceit. You never quite know just who is pulling the strings, which makes for compelling reading.

Widower William Radford IV has returned early from his travels to Europe bringing a new Mrs Radford some forty years his junior. Close friends have been invited to an elegant soirée to meet Keisha and feelings are mixed to say the least.

Two worlds collide and ricochet apart. One guest, Marcie has the life she could never have dreamed of. As the second, younger wife to Jason Maddox she feels secure if not accepted but she immediately senses the interest between her husband and his business partner’s new wife from London.

Keisha is too young, too black, too coarse and too naïve to realise that her new husband would have checked out her past – to the finest and worst detail. She is haunted by her past and her culture plus disgusted by her much older husband with his unpleasant sexual demands once he has taken Viagra.

William’s saintly first wife haunts their home – with a nod to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca including a Mrs Danvers type character in the form of the devoted employee, Elizabeth – and the relationships within the friendship group some of whom have known each other since childhood. But nothing is what it seems in this multi-layered narrative and I love how the author plays with your assumptions and trifles with your allegiances as each twist and turn exposes one dark drama after another until a tantalising dénouement. Characters are brilliantly depicted and locations feed our lockdown souls.

Perfect summer reading wherever you are.

Sarah Pinborough is a Sunday Times Number One, New York Times and internationally bestselling author who is published in over 25 territories worldwide. A recent book Cross Her Heart is in development with World Productions and Dead To Her has been optioned by a major studio for development as a US TV series.

Sarah has been shortlisted for the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was the 2010 and 2014 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella. She has four times been shortlisted for Best Novel. She is also a screenwriter who has written for the BBC and has several original television projects in development.

Holiday Reading

My thoughts on some of the novels I’ve recently read.

The Summer of Impossible Things

by Rowan Colman (Ebury Press)

A beautifully written, accomplished novel that captivated me from the very first pages. Narrated by Luna who, with her sister, Pia, makes a trip to Brooklyn after their mother’s suicide to sell off the building that had been her home and workplace. There they find their mother had sent them film reels, the first of which reveals she was the victim of a violent rape and that Henry who has brought Lana up, is not her biological father. Coupled with this horrifying revelation is Lana’s discovery that she can slip from her present back to 1977 where she meets her mother pre-rape. Lana is determined to change the course of history, to save her mother even if it means wiping out her own existence. Go with the flow on this one and fall in love with the characters delivered with such beautiful prose and brilliant structure.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

by Gail Honeyman (HarperCollins)

Judging by some readers’ comments, this is every much a Marmite book and fortunately I love Marmite. I bought the book as a treat for myself after Christmas and before it became a prizewinner. I love the narrative style and the quirky protagonist. Although I guessed most of the “surprises”, it didn’t detract from my appreciation as the quality of writing is superlative and the path Eleanor treads is captivating. A superbly accomplished début.

Reservoir 13

by Jon McGregor (Fourth Estate)

Another book I bought as a treat – and I knew nothing about the author or the premise of the book which, it transpired, is how the disappearance of a teenage girl on holiday in the area affects that community over a number of years. Each chapter begins with New Years Eve and the celebrations – or lack of them. Each year the inhabitants of the small village reveal a little more of their lives and how they have been changed. I found the writing spellbinding, reminiscent of Dylan Thomas.

Her Secret

by Kelly Florentia (Urbane Publications)

Although this is the sequel to No Way Back, which I haven’t read, I felt it read well as a standalone and there is plenty of backstory interwoven into the narrative to inform the reader. The protagonist, Audrey Fox, is newly married and enjoying life until she is told a secret that has enormous repercussions on her life and marriage. Lies are revealed and lives are shattered. Not my usual genre but perfect if you prefer mature (in age) heroines.

Whistle in the Wind

by Emma Healey (Viking Books)

Initially I found Emma Healey’s second novel difficult to get in to – it was a slow start for me. It deals with the disappearance then reappearance of a teenage girl on a painting holiday with her mother. Lana, aged 15, has been severely depressed and her mother, Jen, is at her wits end but determined to do or try anything to find out what happened to her daughter during the days she was missing. Lana gives up on school, her friends and sleeps with her light on. I didn’t particularly empathise with the mother whose actions and reactions irritated me at times. By far the most sympathetic character is the father. However it was the quality of the writing which kept me reading – and (no spoilers) the climax of the novel makes it all worthwhile.

Wayland’s Revenge

by Lesley Lodge (Matador)

Historical fiction isn’t my usual read and I wasn’t sure what to expect with Wayland’s Revenge. However, I needn’t have worried as after the first chapter or so I was totally engrossed. The narrative is fast moving and the characters sympathetically portrayed especially the bereaved Wayland and his traumatised son. Teaming up with his friend, Alun, a Welsh Baker, Wayland and his son set off on a quest to find his dead wife’s murderer only to end up trapped in the Siege of Colchester where their own lives are threatened.

The Kindness of Strangers

by Julie Newman (Urbane Publications)

If you look at the front cover of this book, you’ll see I rather enjoyed it! “An intricate portrayal of love and loss, redemption and revenge which will stay with you long after the final page.” This is another book for those who like characters who are mature and come from a variety of backgrounds. Be prepared for a narrative that will shock and surprise you.