|
|
|
Sally Beauman (Fiction)
David Grylis
(Poetry)
Philip Hensher (Fiction)
Lisa Hilton (Biography)
Adam
Sisman (Biography)
Wednesday, 27th. September 2000. Rebecca Returns to Manderley Sally Beauman, author of the bestselling Destiny, has written the most daring and brilliant novel of her career, Rebecca's Tale, which has just been acquired by Little, Brown. The following is an extract from the Little, Brown press release about the novel:
Three years ago, Beauman wrote an article for the New Yorker on Daphne du Maurier, an author she has always admired. Subsequently she attended the Daphne du Maurier Festival in Cornwall, and found herself sitting next to Maurier's son, Christian Browning. She expressed her admiration for Rebecca, and commented that despite the title of the novel, we never actually hear the story from Rebecca's point of view. Christian Browning was intrigued, and immediately suggested that she write it herself. Sally Beauman has enjoyed critical and commercial success with her novels, from her first, Destiny, which was a number one bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic, to her most recent, Sextet, which has sold 200,000 copies to date. Ursula Mackenzie who acquired the rights from Pat Kavanagh of Peters, Fraser and Dunlop says, "Sally Beauman is quite simply one of the best writers of popular fiction I have ever read. Her mastery of plot and characterization plus her enthusiasm for both suspense and romance, makes her the perfect person to inherit the mantle of Daphne du Maurier. I have no doubt that Rebecca's Tale is destined to give enormous pleasure to both her own and du Maurier fans for many years to come.