Conville & Walsh

Rebecca James’s debut novel, BEAUTIFUL MALICE, has just been bought by Kate Miciak at Bantam USA, in a spectacular two-book deal for well over half a million dollars. In the office, agent Jo Unwin is over the moon to have discovered such a brilliant new talent; Rebecca herself is thrilled that her manuscript has garnered such enthusiastic interest, and that it will reach such a wide audience in the States.

Set in Australia, BEAUTIFUL MALICE depicts the unlikely friendship between the solitary Katherine and the fashionable, popular Alice Parrie. Alice’s joie de vivre is transformative; it helps Katherine forget her painful past and slowly start enjoying life like she once did. But being friends with Alice is complicated, and as Katherine gets to know her better she discovers that although Alice can be charming and generous she can also be selfish, egocentric - even cruel.

BEAUTIFUL MALICE has already sold to Rowohlt in Germany and Mouria in the Netherlands. It was also pre-empted by Einaudi in Italy, Modan in Israel, Trei in Romania, and Intrinseca in Brazil. French, Swedish and Norwegian auctions are well underway.