Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired Jessica Moor’s second novel Young Women. Publishing Director Sophie Orme acquired UK & Commonwealth English language rights from Marilia Savvides at 42 Management and Production.
Uncomfortable, uncompromising, and set to be the most-fiercely debated book of 2022, Young Women is a razor-sharp novel that slices to the heart of our most important relationships, and asks how complicit we all are in this world built for men.
When Emily meets the enigmatic and dazzling actress Tamsin, her life changes. Drawn into Tamsin’s world of Soho living, boozy dinners, and cocktails at impossibly expensive bars, Emily’s life shifts from black and white to technicolour and the two women become inseparable.
Tamsin is the friend Emily has always longed for; beautiful, fun, intelligent and mysterious and soon Emily is neglecting her previous life – her work assisting vulnerable women, her old friend Lucy – to bask in her glow. But when a bombshell news article about a decades-old sexual assault case breaks, Emily realises that Tamsin has been hiding a secret about her own past. Something that threatens to unravel everything…
Sophie Orme said: ‘I’m so excited to welcome Jessica Moor to Manilla Press. Jessica was selected as an Observer Best Debut Novelist in 2020 and her new novel Young Women is everything I look for in contemporary fiction: gripping, arresting, relevant – a book you just can’t stop thinking or talking about. A powerful novel with an intoxicating voice, it tells the story of an intense female friendship that becomes riven with secrets.’
Jessica Moor said: ‘I’m so honoured and excited to be publishing Young Women with Manilla Press. Since Manilla Press started last year, they have published so many extraordinary, provocative and important books. I’m delighted to work with Sophie and the rest of the team, who are all at the top of their game.’
Marilia Savvides said: ‘We could not be more thrilled to have found a home with Sophie at Bonnier. From the very beginning, her enthusiasm and love for Jessica’s beautiful work was evident. We’re so excited for readers to discover and discuss Young Women.’
Young Women will be published in hardback, eBook and audio, May 2022.
