What trends are you seeing in fiction currently, both internationally and in the UK?
It is such a fascinating moment in publishing and says so much about the time we find ourselves in, with the unprecedented pressures of Covid having so recently occurred and the tumultuous state of the world. Authors - and readers – are responding to that with a desire to escape from everything, either with uplifting love stories or humorous novels, or through entering another world. Romantasy is definitely not going to go away any time soon and some of the biggest books of the London Book Fair this year had a time-travelling or magical element to them, which was intriguing to see. Perennially, we also always love a good and unusual hook.
Which genres excite you most, and what are you hoping to discover amongst the entries for the Caledonia Novel Award 2024?
Above all else I love being surprised by a book. I had no idea that one of my favourite reads of last year would be about a group of modern-day witches living in Hebden Bridge (in Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven), but that is part of the fun of this job. I would be delighted to find a truly original thriller, a book that centres on an unusual voice, such as in Nita Prose's The Maid, or something with a speculative element to it. I always adore a big, attention-grabbing hook, a love story or historical fiction that speaks to the time we find ourselves in now. It would be excellent to see a strong multigenerational novel (I have just started Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and can’t wait to dive back into that), and to have lots of submissions from authors with underrepresented voices. I also often love books which grapple with a difficult subject matter in a thoughtful way, such as in Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, or have a bit of feminist rage within their pages (I adored Naomi Alderman's The Power). So, effectively, quite a wide range!
When you are assessing a manuscript, what grabs your attention from the outset and entices you to read past the first page: plot, voice, characters, or something entirely different?
I know it can be contentious, but I always love a prologue. When done well it is so effective at sucking you into the story immediately. I once went to hear Jodi Picoult talk and she said that, for a novel to work for her, she never starts a book until she has found the perfect opening sentence. That absolutely won’t be the best route in for everyone, but your first line should say so much about your novel and the tone you are aiming to strike. Otherwise, it completely varies according to whether the book is a character-led novel, if it feels pacy if it is a commercial read, or whether it is particularly beautifully crafted. My favourite novels are often the ones which marry gorgeous writing on a sentence level with a tight plot.
Entrants to the Caledonia Novel Award 2024 are asked to include a synopsis with their submission. Do you have some pointers for what you like – and don’t like! – to see in a synopsis?
I tend to look at a synopsis after I have read sample chapters from an author, so I will already have a feel for their voice by that point. Do give a full outline of your novel from start to finish, rather than presenting us with a blurb which would be more akin to the description on the back of a finished book jacket, but it doesn’t need to describe everything minutely and I would keep it to a page in length. Also, bear in mind that I have yet to talk to an author who enjoys writing them. Most loathe doing so with an absolute passion, so if you feel that way then you are far from alone!
Which recent debut novels have you particularly enjoyed, and do you have any favourite ‘go-to’ recommendations?
I could name so many, but most recently I have raced through Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, enjoyed the dark humour of Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family; adored the most original character I have read in a long time in Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, and I thought that Sophie Irwin’s A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting was incredibly fun. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson moved me hugely, and I also thought that Girl A by Abigail Dean trod a delicate line with such care given the subject matter.
In terms of my go-to recommendations, I have been telling everyone to read Emilia Hart’s Weyward (a previously shortlisted author for this prize!) for its female rage and strength. This is obviously non-fiction, but I am going to sneak in Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path, which is a thing of beauty. More than 10 years after I first read it, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller remains one my all-time favourite reads, and if you are yet to read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, then do run to grab a copy.
Looking ahead, what exciting projects are in the pipeline for you and your agency?
Jane Casey’s thriller The Killing Kind is currently being filmed. It will star Colin Morgan and Emma Appleton and will hit your TV screens at some point in the next little bit. Katie Bishop’s debut reading group novel The Girls of Summer is out very soon and is a blisteringly powerful cross between Kate Elizabeth Russell's My Dark Vanessa and The White Lotus, and Claire Daverley’s astonishing debut Talking at Night is also publishing in July. Will and Rosie feel like utterly real people to me and this book has been such a labour of love. I can’t wait for readers to fall in love with them.
And finally, what advice would you give to anyone thinking of entering the Caledonia Novel Award 2024?
It sounds incredibly obvious, but you want to give yourself the best chance you can to stand out, so do ensure that you have made everything as polished as possible before you send your submission in. I also find that often the best thing you can do for a book is to walk away from it for a bit. Giving yourself at least a week or two without looking at your work means that you will nearly always spot problems you would have missed otherwise.
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