Bound proofs are in for THE ORIGINAL
These beautiful bound proofs have arrived, just in time for Christmas, and on the second anniversary of Nell excitedly showing me the first work-in-progress pages of a novel about forgery and authenticity — in art and in love. As usual with her writing, I was hooked from the first sentence.
The Original is a magnificent follow-up to Nell's beautiful debut Briefly, A Delicious Life, and was acquired by Sophie Missing at Scribner UK to be published on 19 June 2025. Norton will publish in the US on 1 July. Claire Fuller has described it as ‘A delightful, playful puzzle of a novel, and a brilliant twist on the nineteenth century orphan-makes-good story.’ I also think of it as a clever twist on the contemporary grifter story: who is grifting and who is genuine? You'll have to read it and see...
Oxfordshire, 1899. Grace Inderwick grows up on the peripheries of a once-great household, an unwanted guest in her uncle’s home. She has unusual skills and unusual predilections: for painting, though faces elude her; for lurking in the shadows; for other girls.
Then a letter arrives, postmarked Saint Helena. After years missing at sea, Grace’s cousin Charles is ready to come home. When Charles returns, unrecognisable and uncanny, a rift emerges between those who claim he is an imposter and Grace’s aunt, who insists he is her son. And Grace, whose intimate knowledge of forgeries is her own closely-guarded secret, must decide who and what to believe in, and what kind of life she wants to live.
Publicity is being handled by Rebecca McCarthy: