TRAPEZE ACQUIRE A SECOND NOVEL FROM DAVID M BARNETT
Sam Eades, Editorial Director at Trapeze, has acquired World Rights (All Languages) for The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club by David M Barnett in a deal struck by John Jarrold Literary Agency.
Sam Eades, editor said: ‘The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club is a novel about loneliness, something that many of us will experience at some point in our lives. With his trademark warmth and humour, David explores an unlikely friendship across the generations that will tug on the heartstrings but most importantly leave the reader with hope. Publishing Calling Major Tom has been an absolute joy with rights sold around the world, and I’m so pleased to be working with David again!’
David M Barnett, author said: ‘The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club, just like Calling Major Tom, was sparked by a real news item; what if a nursing home took in students to offer cheaper accommodation but also encourage some inter-generational activity between young and old? We follow Jenny Ebert, a young woman with a troubled past who is hoping to reinvent herself at a new university. As the Baby Boomers and the Millennials cross swords and struggle to find common ground in the remote, coastal Sunset Promenade, everyone begins to learn that what divides us can sometimes bring us together. But as Jenny and the older residents start to bond over a shared love of old film noir movies, secrets, lies and the very real threat of a crime-wave sweeping Sunset Promenade jeopardises the fragile peace… and heralds even darker and more serious consequences. Think The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel meets Fresh Meat meets Farewell, My Lovely, and you’re halfway to The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club.’
John Jarrold, agent said: ‘After Calling Major Tom, the wit, immediacy and warmth of David Barnett’s writing are even more clear in The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club, which makes me laugh and thrills me simultaneously. His characters are wonderfully real and flawed. I cheer for them on every page.”
David Barnett is an author and journalist based in West Yorkshire. After a career working for regional newspapers he embarked upon a freelance career writing features for most of the UK national press. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed Gideon Smith series of Victorian fantasies, published by Tor Books, and teaches journalism part-time at Leeds Trinity University. David was born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1970 and is married to Claire, also a journalist. They have two children, Charlie and Alice.
The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club will be published by Trapeze in March 2018 in export trade paperback, ebook and audio with the mass market paperback in Summer 2018.