Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired ‘the most contemporary novel to date’ from the award winning and Sunday Times bestselling author Stacey Halls.
Sophie Orme, publisher, acquired UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights for The Sitting Tenant from Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment in a two-book deal.
The Sitting Tenant is described as an unsettling, utterly compulsive exploration of motherhood, secrets and lies. Set in 1960, this is the story of newlyweds Celia and Gregory Ringrose, who buy their first home in Hampstead’s exclusive Vale of Health. But the house comes with a catch: a sitting tenant called Blythe Morris, who has lived in the house for years and can’t be evicted. When the Ringroses’ baby arrives, Celia comes to rely increasingly on Miss Morris. But the lodger insinuates herself into their dynamic in a way they could never have imagined, acting as a wet nurse and feeding their newborn child. What follows is a desperate struggle through the trenches of motherhood as Celia attempts to unravel their lives from Miss Morris’ while her fear and paranoia grows.
Stacey Halls said: “This novel arrived in a bit of a fever dream. I wanted to write about the miracle and shock of motherhood, the extremity of those early weeks and months and the convention and agency of women in the mid 20th century. The Sitting Tenant feels like a departure from anything I’ve done before while also being deeply familiar, and I can’t wait to share it. Bonnier is the perfect home for my books and I’m thrilled to still be working with my editor Sophie after almost a decade.”
Sophie Orme said: “It has been an utter joy to work with Stacey Halls from her debut novel The Familiars and through four Sunday Times bestsellers. I’m so excited to publish what I believe is her most compulsively gripping, unsettling and thought-provoking novel to date. The Sitting Tenant put me in mind of the very best of Sarah Waters’ novels and I absolutely cannot wait to share it with readers.”
Juliet Mushens said: “Stacey Halls goes from strength to strength with her writing, and in this depiction of the intense relationship between two women within a claustrophobic household, she shows again her gift for a page-turning plot, and deft and astute character work. We love working with Bonnier and Manilla Press and I’m excited to see this published.”
Stacey Halls was born in Lancashire and worked as a journalist before her debut The Familiars was published in 2019. The Familiars was the bestselling debut hardback novel of that year, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards’ Debut Book of the Year. Her following three novels, The Foundling (2020), Mrs England (2021) and The Household (2024) have all been Sunday Times bestsellers. She has now sold more than a million copies in all formats and in 2022 was awarded the Women’s Prize X Good Housekeeping Futures award.
The Sitting Tenant will be published by Manilla Press in hardback, ebook, and audio in spring 2027.
