*** COVER REVEAL *** The Fascination by Essie Fox #TheFascination @essiefox @OrendaBooks #CoverReveal @DHHliteraryagency

 

I cannot tell you how excited and thrilled I am to host this cover reveal today.
I have been a fan of Essie Fox for many many years and am delighted that she has now signed with Orenda Books.

THE FASCINATION will be published by Orenda in hardback in June 2023

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, is delighted to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for Essie Fox’s The Fascination, in a deal negotiated with David Headley at DHH Literary Agency.

Set in a Victorian world of human phenomena, and encompassing rural fairgrounds, the glamour of London theatres, and an Oxford Street Museum of morbid curiosities, The Fascination tells the story of twin sisters, Keziah and Tilly Lovell, identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir, the girls are eventually sold to a mysterious Italian, known only as ‘Captain’. 

In a second strand we meet Theo, an orphan raised by his wealthy – and resentful – grandfather in an opulent country home. When his grandfather remarries, Theo is forced to leave his home without a penny to his name and takes on work as an assistant in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy. 

 And it is here that the lives of the two sisters and Theo collide, with devastating effect.

Karen says, ‘The Fascination is a glorious, glittering evocation of Victorian London and its obsession with ‘deformo-mania’; it’s sumptuous, visceral and exquisitely written, populated by superbly drawn, often unscrupulous characters, and powered by an unexpected, brooding tension … and multiple layers of intrigue and deception. 

At its heart are universal themes of love and loss, and, perhaps most powerfully, an examination of what it means to be unique, to fall outside the physical norm, to be excluded and exploited, and yet retain a fierce and independent spirit. 

Essie Fox is renowned for her atmospheric, bewitching explorations of Victoriana, and this extraordinary, evocative novel showcases a writer at the height of her powers.

‘This is masterclass historical fiction, with themes and writing that embrace everything we want to do at Orenda Books. We are elated to welcome Essie to our team, and cannot wait for readers to enter the spellbinding world of The Fascination.’

Essie says, ‘The Fascination has been my passion for the last few years. It’s a story that was forming, even while I was writing other novels; something bursting to get out. So, it was an absolute delight for me when Karen at Orenda shared my enthusiasm, and had such vision for the project. I hope that readers will now take as much pleasure from the story as I felt when writing it.’

David Headley says, ‘Well-known to the publishing industry, Orenda Books is an absolute powerhouse, so when Karen said she wanted to work with Essie on her new book, it just made perfect sense. It is a privilege to represent Essie and her writing, which only goes from strength to strength. I know that The Fascination has found its perfect home, and I can’t wait to see it in readers’ hands.’