Jessie Burton has become a hot name in literature thanks to the popularity of both The Miniaturist and The Muse. Both of the author’s adult works are signed to Picador, but we’ve just heard news that the author has sold the rights to two children’s books to Bloomsbury Children!
It was Ellen Holgate, editorial director for Bloomsbury Children’s Books that approached Burton about the idea of writing children’s stories with the intention of reinventing the roles of women and girls in fairytales. The two children’s books are described as ‘dark and atmospheric fairy tales, with a feminist twist’, and given the popularity of the author, it seems Bloomsbury has made a good choice!
Burton herself said that the opportunity would be a fairytale for her, and she’s delighted to be able to delve into the treasure trove of fairytale tradition, and add a modern twist. Both titles are yet to be announced, but will be illustrated throughout, we’re expecting details of the chosen illustrator to be released later.
There’s no doubt that women and girls are traditionally helpless princesses that need saving in fairytales, and as magical as they are these are the books we read in our formative years, the very building blocks of our expectation and society. As such we very much welcome some changes to traditional fairytales and we fully endorse Jessie Burton to take up the mantle!
Burton’s first novel, The Miniaturist was hugely popular with our bookclub last year, and went on to win both the Waterstones Book of the Year 2014, and the Specsavers Book of the Year Award 2014. The second title The Muse was released just a month ago and went straight to the top of the fiction chart on its first week of sale!
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