NOVELIST HELEN GRANT JOINS THE JOHN JARROLD LITERARY AGENCY
Photo credit: Paul Reich
Novelist Helen Grant is the latest client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency. Her new novel is Purslane the Witch.
“Love is forever, so they say. I hope to hell they’re wrong. When love comes looking for me, it’s always time to leave town.”
Purslane is a freelance witch, though she doesn’t like to use that word. Escaping from a persistent suitor (the result of an ill-advised spell) she takes a job in Cheselborne Percy, a quaint little English village with a marauding night monster problem. This means investigating disappearing teenagers, a stolen grimoire, duplicitous locals, and gruesome attacks, while trying not to ruin her vintage silk devoré dress. There is the added complication of the vicar, who projects his thoughts (some relating to Purslane) in a very disconcerting way. Beleaguered by a ravening creature, malevolent magic and inconvenient emotions, Purslane vows that if she’s going to be torn to pieces and eaten alive, she’s going to do it in Louis heels…
Purslane is potentially the first novel in a series, although it works as a standalone. It’s perfect for readers of T. Kingfisher’s A House With Good Bones or The Hollow Places. The tone of voice is wry and confidential and there is some genuine nastiness, but not full-on gore. The peculiarities of the English setting of Purslane also contribute to the story in the same way the North Carolina setting does in the T. Kingfisher novels.
Helen has been a published novelist since 2009, with nine novels, a novella, three story collections and over 50 short stories published, and her writing has won the following awards, and been shortlisted for many more:
Too Near The Dead won the Dracula Society’s Children of the Night Award 2021.
The Beach House (short fiction) won the Jimmy Perez Trophy 2015 at Shetland Noir.
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden (US edition) won an ALA Alex Award 2010.
Her website is: https://www.helengrantbooks.com/
“ I loved Helen’s voice from the first page,” said John Jarrold. “The characters, setting and the feel of the story are outstanding – and there’s more than a touch of romance. Also wit, something I adore in an author. I immediately thought of T Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series, which is a great favourite of mine.”