Orion Fiction has fallen for Hattie Williams’ “intoxicating” debut novel in a six-figure deal following a four-way auction.
Publishing director Charlotte Mursell acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment in a two-book deal. Bitter Sweet will be published in hardback, e-book and audiobook in July 2025 as a lead title for the imprint.
North American rights were pre-empted by Caroline Weishuhn at Bantam Dell in a deal struck by Jenny Bent at the Bent Agency on behalf of Mushens. The novel has also been pre-empted in Germany (Ullstein) in a six-figure deal and sold at auction in Italy (Newton Compton) and Spain (Urano), with further deals in Hungary and Romania.
“I inhaled this novel in two sittings – incredibly compulsive, bitterly nostalgic and ultimately hopeful, it’s a very special novel,” said Mushens.
Bitter Sweet is an “exquisitely crafted” story which explores an affair between a young publicist and an older, celebrated author. The synopsis continues: “Charlie is 23 and has just joined the independent London publishing house, Winden & Shane. Richard Aveling, 56, married, is the author who has defined his generation. Charlie has long idolised the charming, illustrious writer, who also represents a link to her late mother, who loved his work. But as they embark on an illicit and all-consuming affair, Charlie is forced to hide the relationship from everyone she cares about. And when the success of Richard’s latest book launches him to a new level of fame where all anonymity is lost, she realises she might just be in too deep.”
Mursell said: “Compulsive, immersive and exceptionally nuanced, the moment I finished Bitter Sweet I wanted to flip the manuscript over and start all over again, soaking up every line. Hattie’s extraordinary writing is painfully resonant, yet told with a lightness of a touch and a closing sense of hope that leaves you reeling in the very best way. Whether you spent your twenties surviving on cheap prosecco and lukewarm canapés at launch parties or not, Bitter Sweet will ignite conversation at book clubs everywhere.”
Williams said: “I hope the book will resonate with anyone that has ever felt like an outsider, and who has formed and broken the kind of intense and volatile relationships that can define our twenties. Although Charlie and Richard are entirely fictional, I wanted to write about power and control, and a feeling of having neither, and the lengths we will go to in order to try and find security and comfort.”
