Curtis Brown RIGHTS NEWSLETTER October 2014

1 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Curtis Brown Australia

October 2014

Rights Newsletter

Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd | Literary Agents

PO Box 19 | Paddington NSW 2021 | Australia

T: [61 2] 9361 6161 | F: [61 2] 9360 3935

E: [email protected] | W: www.curtisbrown.com.au


| FICTION | 288 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

THE FAMILY MEN Catherine Harris

Sex, alcohol, sport ... and the choices we make

Published by: Black Inc.|Paperback

Rights held: Film/TV, Audio

Agent: Clare Forster ([email protected])

Description: Harry's success as a footballer is predestined, the territory that comes

with a superstar father, and all the Club asks in return is loyalty and the occasional

code of silence. But when his home-town media scrum dredges up an old scandal

of his father's, and Harry becomes embroiled in one of his own, he starts to question

the reality behind the glittering facade of the trophies he wins and the pretty young

things who mob him.

With piercing insight, The Family Men subverts the usual choices between winning

and losing, guilt and innocence, courage and cowardice. Is true honour to be

found in forging your own path or staying loyal to your pack?

‘Sex, alcohol and the AFL. The three often come together in an unholy trinity and

Catherine Harris’ novel explores such a combination to devastating effect.’ - The Age

‘Regardless of your interest in sport, The Family Men is a starkly brilliant and uniquely

Australian novel that stays with you long after reading.’ – Readings Monthly

‘Compelling and provocative.’ – Daily Telegraph

Catherine Harris’s short story collection, Like Being A Wife (Random House), was shortlisted for the Age

Fiction Prize, the Barbara Jefferis award, and as a manuscript for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

Her prose and essays have been published in Australia, Canada, England and the USA. She won the

Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize (2009) and has since been shortlisted for several national and

international awards. Her novel, The Family Men, is published by Black Inc.)

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/family-men


| THRILLER | 400 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

DISHONOUR Gabrielle Lord

A fast-paced thriller that lifts the veil on a brutal but

hidden crime.

Published by: Hachette Australia |Paperback

Rights held: Audio, Film/TV

Agent: Fiona Inglis ([email protected])

Description: Detective-Inspector Debra Hawkins has domestic violence in her sights.

But as head of a new police unit targeting violence against women, she has hit a

wall of silence. How can she help Rana al-Sheikly, a young woman who yearns for

the freedom to lead her own life while her brothers are planning to send her into a

forced marriage in Iraq? And what is the connection between these men and the

crime gangs that are running rife in the suburbs? A series of anonymous emails has

Deb following her personal secrets, too - back to her childhood and the murder of

her police sergeant father. Who is digging up the past, threatening Debra's hard-

won career, and even her life?

‘Gabrielle Lord is a gripping crime writer with a knack for writing one step ahead of the

news cycle.’ – The Sydney Morning Herald

Gabrielle Lord is widely acknowledged as one of Australia’s foremost writers. Her popular psychological

thrillers are informed by a detailed knowledge of forensic procedures, combined with an unrivalled gift

for storytelling. She is the author of Whipping Boy, Fortress, Bones, Tooth And Claw, Salt, Jumbo, The

Sharp End, Feeding The Demons, Death Delights, Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing, Lethal Factor and Spiking

the Girl. The latest novel in her Gemma Lincoln series, Shattered, was published by Hodder in 2007.

Gabrielle has also written for film and television. Her first Young Adult novel Monkey Undercover was

published by Scholastic in 2006 and was followed by the highly successful series of 12 adventure stories

for young readers, Conspiracy 365, which is to be made into a television series. Her latest novel,

Dishonour, was published by Hachette in 2014.


http://www.gabriellelord.com/


| MEMOIR | 256 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

HOW TO GET THERE Maggie Mackellar

An unforgettable story of home and courage.

Published by: Random House Australia|Paperback



Description: In 2011 Maggie Mackellar moved from her family's farm in Central West

New South Wales to the east coast of Tasmania with her children and assorted

menagerie to live with a farmer. Her story takes as its epigraph a quote from Roger

McDonald: 'Through every small opening in life, through the tiniest most restricted

nerve ends, through rips and tears and tatters, life pours.' In the book she explores

learning to love again after living through grief, and the complexities of doing this in

a community with which she is unfamiliar, with two young children. She reflects on

love after grief, juggling being a mother and negotiating a burgeoning relationship,

the rhythms of country life, displacement and the writing life. This is a book for

anyone who has imagined taking a risk, for anyone who has moved to a new place

and struggled with feelings of homesickness and displacement. It is a story about

making a life in a remarkable setting – the east coast of Tasmania, on a sheep farm

in a stone house built by convicts in 1828.

Maggie MacKellar was born in 1973. She has published two books on the history of settlement in

Australia and Canada, as well as a memoir When It Rains (Random House, 2010). Following a number of

years in central western New South Wales, Maggie now lives with her partner and two children on a

farm in Tasmania. Her follow-up memoir How To Get There was published in 2014 and she is currently

working on a novel.



| NON-FICTION | 288 pp | PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2014 |

THE WIFE DROUGHT Annabel Crabb

“A riveting, original take on why both men and women

are missing out when it comes to work and family life.”

Leigh Sales

Published by: Random House Australia |Paperback

Rights held: Film/TV


Description: The Wife Drought is about women, men, family and work. Written in

Annabel Crabb's inimitable style, it's full of candid and funny stories from the

author's work in and around politics and the media, historical nuggets about the

role of ‘The Wife' in Australia, and intriguing research about the attitudes that pulse

beneath the surface of egalitarian Australia.

Crabb's call is for a ceasefire in the gender wars. Rather than a shout of rage, The

Wife Drought is the thoughtful, engaging catalyst for a conversation that's long

overdue.

‘Crabb perfectly encapsulates just how much inequality exists between working men

and women in terms of employment, salary and career success.’ - WeekendNotes

Annabel Crabb is one of Australia's most popular political commentators, a Walkley-awarded writer,

and the host of Australia's first dedicated political cooking show, ABC TV's Kitchen Cabinet. She writes

for ABC Online's The Drum and has worked extensively in TV and radio. She is a columnist for the Sunday

Age, Sun-Herald and Canberra's Sunday Times, and has worked as a political correspondent and

sketchwriter for titles including the Advertiser, the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, and as London

correspondent for Fairfax's Sunday papers. She won a Walkley Award for her 2009 essay on Malcolm

Turnbull, and was Australia's 2011 Eisenhower Fellow. She lives in Sydney with her partner, Jeremy, and

their three children.



| FICTION | 528 pp | PUBLISHED OCT 2014 |

HELLO FROM THE

GILLESPIES Monica McInerney

For more than thirty years Angela Gillespie has sent to

friends and family around the world an end-of-year letter

that has always been cheery and full of good news. This

year, she tells the truth…

Published by: Penguin Australia|Paperback



Description: The Gillespies are far from the perfect family that Angela has made

them out to be. Her husband seems to be having a mid-life crisis. Her grown-up

twins are having career meltdowns. Her third daughter, badly in debt, can't stop

crying. And her ten-year-old son spends more time talking to his imaginary friend

than to real ones.

Without Angela, the family would fall apart. But when Angela is taken from them in

a most unexpected manner, the Gillespies pull together – and pull themselves

together – in wonderfully surprising ways . . .

'This is one of those rare books you could recommend to anyone and know that they

will love it.' - Australian Women's Weekly

Monica McInerney grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley of South Australia, where her

father was the railway stationmaster. She is the author of the bestselling novels A Taste for It, Upside

Down Inside Out, Spin the Bottle, The Alphabet Sisters, Family Baggage and a collection of short fiction,

All Together Now, published internationally and in translation. In 2006 she was the ambassador for the

Australian Government initiative Books Alive, with her novella Odd One Out. Her novel, Those Faraday

Girls, won the General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards and All

Together Now was short-listed in the same category in the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards. At

Home with the Templetons was a huge success in 2010 and was followed by a sequel to The Alphabet

Sisters entitled Lola’s Secret. Her latest book Hello from the Gillespies was published by Penguin in 2014.

She currently lives in Dublin with her Irish husband.


http://www.monicamcinerney.com/


| FICTION | 352 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS Kylie Ladd

Four mothers. Four teenage daughters. An isolated

tropical paradise with no internet or mobile phone

reception. What could possible go wrong?

Published by: Allen & Unwin|Paperback

Rights held: Film/TV, Audio

Agent: Pippa Masson ([email protected])

Description: How can we let our daughters go to forge lives of their own when what

we most want to do is hold them close and never let them go? How do we let them

grow and keep them protected from the dark things in the world at the same time?

And how can mothers and daughters navigate the troubled, stormy waters of

adolescence without hurting themselves and each other? A clear-eyed, insightful

and wildly entertaining look into the complicated, emotional world of mothers and

daughters by the acclaimed author of Into My Arms, Last Summer and After the Fall.

'...a strong, intelligent, subtle and wise new voice...being compared with Christos

Tsiolkas, Malcolm Knox and Helen Garner....' - Booktopia

Kylie Ladd is a novelist, neuropsychologist and freelance writer. Her essays and articles have appeared

in The Age, Griffith Review, O Magazine, Kill Your Darlings, The Hoopla and MamaMia among others.

Kylie’s first novel, After The Fall, was published in Australia, Turkey and the US, while her second, Last

Summer, was highly commended in the 2011 FAW Christina Stead Award for fiction. She also co-edited

Naked: Confessions of Adultery and Infidelity. Into My Arms, was selected as one of the Get Reading ‘50

Books You Can’t Put Down’. Kylie’s fourth novel, Mothers and Daughters, was published by Allen &

Unwin in 2014.


http://www.kylieladd.com/


| ROMANCE | 448 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

THE FRENCH PRIZE Cathryn Hein

An ancient riddle, a broken vow – a modern-day quest for

a medieval treasure.

Published by: Harlequin|Paperback

Rights held: North America, Audio, Film/TV


Description: Australian-born Dr. Olivia Walker is an Oxford academic with a

reputation as one of the world’s leading Crusade historians and she’s risked

everything on finding one of the most famous swords in history – Durendal.

Shrouded in myth and mystery, the sword is fabled to have belonged to the warrior

Roland, a champion of Charlemagne’s court, and Olivia is determined to prove to

her detractors that the legend is real. Her dream is almost within reach when she

discovers the long-lost key to its location in Provence, but her benefactor – Raimund

Blancard – has other ideas.

For more than a millennium, the Blancard family have protected the sword. When

his brother is tortured and killed by a man who believes he is Roland’s rightful heir,

Raimund vows to end the bloodshed forever. He will find Durendal and destroy it,

but to do that he needs Olivia's help.

Cathryn Hein was born in South Australia’s rural south-east. Armed with a Bachelor of Applied Science

(Agriculture), she moved to Melbourne and later Newcastle, working in the agricultural and turf seeds

industry. Her partner’s posting to France took Cathryn overseas for three years where she began to

write. Her novels include Promises, Heart of the Valley, Heartland and Rocking Horse Hill (Penguin) and

The French Prize (Harlequin). Coming soon is The Falls (Penguin).


http://www.cathrynhein.com/


| HISTORICAL FICTION | 432 pp | PUBLISHED OCT 2014 |

HALF THE WORLD IN

WINTER Maggie Joel

A captivating drama of family secrets and tragedies.

Published by: Allen & Unwin | Paperback



Description: It is London, 1880, and Lucas Jarmyn struggles to make sense of the

death of his beloved youngest daughter; his wife, Aurora, seeks solace in rigid social

routines; and eighteen-year-old Dinah looks for fulfilment in unusual places. Only the

housekeeper, the estimable Mrs Logan, seems able to carry on.

A train accident in a provincial town on the railway Lucas owns claims the life of

nine-year-old Alice Brinklow and, amid the public outcry, Alice's father, Thomas,

journeys to London demanding justice. As he arrives in the Capital on a frozen

January morning his fate, and that of the entire Jarmyn family, will hinge on such

strange things as an ill-fated visit to a spiritualist, an errant chicken bone and a

single vote cast at a board room meeting.

‘The really explosive secrets are saved for the end’ - Sydney Morning Herald

‘As well as being able to create a distinct sense of place … Joel has a wicked

sense of humour’ - The Age

‘Warm and full of surprises.’ - Culture Street

Maggie Joel was born in Hertfordshire, England and now lives and works in Sydney. Her short stories

have been widely published in Southerly, Westerly, Island, Overland and Canberra Arts Review, and

broadcast on ABC radio. Her bestselling novels are The Past and Other Lies, and The Second-Last

Woman in England. Half the World in Winter is now available from Allen & Unwin.


http://www.maggiejoel.com/


| NON-FICTION | 384 pp | PUBLISHED OCT 2014 |

HIGH STAKES: THE RISE OF

THE WATERHOUSE DYNASTY Paul Kennedy

Scandal, glamour, success – the story of Australia’s best-

known horseracing family

Published by: Hachette | Paperback



Description: When it comes to racing, the name most Australians associate with the

racetrack is Waterhouse. This is their compelling story. High Stakes tracks the story of

the Waterhouse dynasty - from the early years of the colony to Bill Waterhouse's

introduction to the bookmaking world as a sixteen-year-old, working as a 'penciller'

(writing betting tickets) for his father in the late thirties. From that moment his future

was clear. He went on to make money both on and off the track - and created

headlines during the notorious Fine Cotton affair in the eighties. It examines Bill's son

Robbie's rise as a respected bookie and a knowledgeable judge of horses, to his

spectacular fall, as a result of that same Fine Cotton affair, which led to a life ban

from involvement in the racing industry.

Paul Kennedy is a senior television presenter with ABC 1, and has more than 20 years’ news reporting

experience. He has covered some of the biggest stories in Australia for networks Ten, Nine and the ABC.

A former state league footballer, his coverage of the issue of drugs in sport has been a career highlight:

his short film Drug Game was a Melbourne International Film Festival finalist. He worked with Chrissie

Foster to tell her acclaimed story of abuse by the Catholic Church, Hell on the Way to Heaven (Random

House Australia). His investigative account Storm Cloud: Melbourne Storm’s Demise and Resurrection is

published by Hardie Grant. High Stakes: The Rise Of The Waterhouse Dynasty was published by Hachette

in 2014. Paul Kennedy is married with three sons.


https://www.hachette.com.au/books/detail.page?isbn=9780733632389


| FICTION | 232 pp | PUBLISHED OCT 2014 |

SWIMMING TO THE

MOON Robert Drewe

Endearing and often hilarious snapshots of Australian

life from a master novelist who has turned the column

into an art form.

Published by: Freemantle Press | Hardback

Rights held: Translation, Audio, Film/TV


Description: From a floury encounter on a baker's work table to the art of sitting

backwards on chairs, from budgie training to spontaneous human combustion, this

collection showcases the non-fiction writing of one of Australia's best-loved authors.

These pieces encompass suburban portraits and coastal living, affectionate

nostalgia and the absurdity of the everyday. They are endearing and often hilarious

snapshots of Australian life from a master novelist who has turned the column into

an artform.

‘Drewe's literary instincts are as impeccable as his ear for the English language is

unfaltering.’ - The Australian

Robert Drewe was born in Melbourne on January 9, 1943, but from the age of six, when his father moved

the family west to a better job in Perth, he grew up and was educated on the West Australian coast.

The Swan River and Indian Ocean coast, where he learned to swim and surf, made an immediate and

lasting impression on him. Swimming and publishing have remained interests all his life. His novels and

short stories have been widely translated, won many national and international prizes and been

adapted for film, television, radio and the theatre. His memoir The Shark Net, was adapted as an ABC

and BBC television miniseries. His 1996 novel The Drowner was short listed for all five Australian Premier’s

Awards. He has served as a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council and the

management committees of the Australian Society of Authors, the Sydney Writers' Festival and the Byron

Bay Writers' Festival. He presently divides his time between the north coast hinterland of New South

Wales and Western Australia.


http://www.robertdrewe.com/


| NON-FICTION | 305 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

AUSTRALIANS AT HOME

WORLD WAR I Michael McKernan

The acclaimed classic histories of our people on the

home front – now in new editions

Published by: The Five Mile Press | Hardback



Description: The best-selling Australians at Home were the first books to study the

Australian home front, during World War I and II, in depth and detail, putting the

lives, sufferings and grief of Australian women and children in the forefront of the

war experience

Perfectly pitched, they reach the classic general reader, whilst breaking new

ground in the writing of Australian military and social history.

Historian Michael McKernan is the author of several acclaimed books, including the classic accounts

Australians at Home: World War I and Australians at Home: World War II (now available in new editions

from Five Mile Press). With a University Medal and a doctorate from the Australian National University, he

lectured in Australian History at the University of New South Wales for several years, before working in a

senior management position at the Australian War Memorial. For more than a decade Michael has led

tours to First and Second World War battlefields.

Also available:



| NON-FICTION | 256 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

HORSE RESCUE Joanne Schoenwald

Inspiring stories of second-chance horses and the lives

they changed.

Published by: Penguin |Paperback



Description: Horses are powerful beyond their physical measures. Through their

unique bond to people, horses have the ability to heal, teach, and change lives. A

person might rescue a horse, but so often it ends up being the other way around.

And sometimes the deepest transformations come when we least expect them.

Meet Sue Spence, who rescued little Larry, a pony that helped her through the

stages of breast cancer. There's Rebel Morrow, whose journey to the Athens

Olympics with her rescued horse, Groover, is nothing short of miraculous. And there's

Michael Williams, in and out of prison for twelve years and finally seeing some light

through the Horses for Hope program. These and a dozen other rescuers celebrate

the special bonds they've formed, and share what they have learned from their

amazing equine companions.

Joanne Schoenwald loves nature, animals, funny movies, tea, good books and chocolate. She

lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, with her husband, son, seven horses, two

dogs, two goats and two cats. In the past, Joanne has worked as a teacher, a massage

therapist, an office administrator, the founder and president of Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue

Inc., and a professional editor. She is very pleased to now, finally, be a full-time author, writing

about the subjects she is most passionate about. Joanne also writes fiction under the

pseudonym Josephine Moon.


http://joanneschoenwald.com/


| CHILDREN’S FICTION | 64 pp | PUBLISHED OCT 2014 |

THE CLEO STORIES: THE

NECKLACE AND THE PRESENT Libby Gleeson (illustrated by

Freya Blackwood)

Meet Cleo, a little girl with a big imagination.

Published by: Allen & Unwin |Hardback


Agent: Pippa Masson ([email protected])

Description: Cleo desperately wants a necklace. Her parents say special presents

are only for birthdays... but Cleo doesn't want to wait. In the second story, it's her

mum's birthday and Cleo doesn't know what to give her - until she has the best idea

of all.

Delightful, warm and irresistible, these stories show how a little girl with a big

imagination can always find a way to have fun.

Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood have collaborated on a number of much-

loved and award-winning picture books, including Amy and Louis and Clancy and

Millie and the Very Fine House.

‘The stories are full of warmth, authenticity and humour; Blackwood’s detailed,

atmospheric illustrations complement Gleeson’s engaging narrative to create a

realistic portrait of Australian family life.’ – Bookseller and Publisher

Libby Gleeson has published over 30 popular, highly acclaimed books for children and teenagers, been

shortlisted for 13 CBCA Awards, and won three. Libby has been a teacher and lecturer and contributes

regularly to national conferences. She chaired the Australian Society of Authors from 1999-2001, and in

2007 was awarded membership to the Order of Australia. She won the 2011 Dromkeen Medal, awarded

for contributions to children's literature.

Freya Blackwood grew up in Orange, NSW. The daughter of a painter and an architect, she began

drawing at a young age. She produced many illustrated books at school, but completed a design

degree and became interested in filmmaking. She worked for several years in the special effects

industry in Sydney and Wellington, NZ, before eventually returning to illustration. In 2010, Freya won the

prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for Harry and Hopper.


http://www.libbygleeson.com.au/

http://www.freyablackwood.net/


| YOUNG ADULT | 192 pp | PUBLISHED SEPT 2014 |

THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST #1: ESCAPE

FROM WOLFHAVEN CASTLE

Kate Forsyth

The first in a five-part series, the journey begins in the Land

of Wolfhaven.

Published by: Scholastic Australia | Paperback

Rights held: Film/TV

Agent: Tara Wynne ([email protected])

Description: The Impossible Quest is set in the faraway land of Wolfhaven. It tells the

story of four kids who are forced into an impossible quest to try and awaken the

legendary sleeping warriors of the past.

Wolfhaven Castle has been attacked, and only four escape capture... Tom, trained

to scrub pots, not fight; Elanor, the lord's daughter; Sebastian, a knight in training;

and Quinn, the witch's apprentice.

Somehow, if they are to save their people, these unlikely heroes must find four

magical beasts from legend and awaken the sleeping warriors of the past. But first,

they have to make it out of the castle alive...

Kate Forsyth is the bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty books, ranging from

picture books to poetry to novels for both children and adults. Kate's books have been published in 14

countries around the world, including the UK, the US, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Italy,

Poland and Slovenia. She is currently undertaking a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of

Technology, having already completed a BA in Literature and a MA in Creative Writing. She lives by the

sea in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, three children, a rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback, a

bad-tempered black cat, and many thousands of books.


http://www.kateforsyth.com.au/


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Curtis Brown RIGHTS NEWSLETTER October 2014