HarperCollins Media Bites September 2021

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MEDIA BITES

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Jay Kristoff EMP I R E OF TH E VAMP I R E

Michelle Tom T E N THOUSAND A F T E RSHOCKS

From the bestselling and award-winning author of the Nevernight Chronicle , comes a masterful new series that will redefine Vampire myth for a new generation and will leave you saying, “Vampires are back, it’s about bloody time.” This book is bloody brilliant’ V.E Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

Told through the five stages of an earthquake via remembered fragments, Ten Thousand Aftershocks explores the similarities between seismic upheaval and Michelle’s own family’s tragedies: her sister’s terminal illness, her brother’s struggle with schizophrenia and ultimate suicide, her father’s sudden death, her own panic disorder, and through it all, one overarching battle – her lifelong struggle to form a healthy connection with her mother.

Peter Rees K I L L I NG J UAN I TA

Ross Edgley B LU E PR I NT

A revised edition of the Ned Kelly Award-winning book, re-released to coincide with two major TV documentaries on the case and a season on ABC’s Unravel podcast Rees brings fresh insight and information to this unsolved mystery and is considered as they key expert on the case of Juanita Nielsen Just weeks ago, NSW Police announced a $1 million reward for anyone who can help solve the case

‘He’s an animal’ Chris Hemsworth From world-renowned adventurer, Chris Hemsworth’s trainer, and bestselling author of The Art of Resilience and The World’s Fittest Book , comes the ultimate blueprint to (re)building a bulletproof body.

SEP TEMBER 2 021 – F ICT ION

Empire of the Vampire JAY KR I S TOF F It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness. Gabriel de León, half man, half monster and last remaining silversaint – a sworn brother of the holy Silver Order dedicated to defending the realm from the creatures of the night – is all that stands between the world and its end. Now imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope: The Holy Grail.

Here in the After MAR I ON F R I TH

Two damaged people, one unlikely friendship and a way to find hope in the darkness. Anna has survived the worst. So has Nat. Two broken souls, struggling to find a place in a world they no longer fit. Anna, 62, is the victim of a terrorist attack in which eleven others were murdered. Nat, 35, is an Army veteran who fought in Afghanistan. They have so little in common. And so much. A friendship stirs between them, tentative and unlikely, its foundation the violence they have seen and the memories that stalk them. Together, they begin to search for a way back home. But when Nat’s wife falls unexpectedly pregnant, terrible ghosts from his wartime past rise up and much more than a friendship is at stake. Here in the After is a poignant and uplifting exploration of the legacy of trauma and the healing power of connection.

Released 01/09/21 TPB | 320pp AU $32.99 NZ $35.00 Imprint: HarperCollins

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 736pp

AU $32.99 NZ $35.00 Imprint: Harper Voyager

jaykristoff.com

F ICT ION

Freckles C E C E L I A AH E RN

Five people. Five chances. One woman’s search for happiness. Allegra Bird’s arms are scattered with freckles, a gift from her beloved father. But despite her nickname, Freckles has never been able to join all the dots. So when a stranger tells her that everyone is the average of the five people they spend the most time with, it opens up something deep inside. The trouble is, Freckles doesn’t know if she has five people. And if not, what does that say about her? She’s left her unconventional father and her friends behind for a bold new life in Dublin, but she’s still an outsider. Now, in a quest to understand, she must find not one but five people who shape her – and who will determine her future. Told in Allegra’s vivid, original voice, moving from modern Dublin to the fierce Atlantic coast, this is an unforgettable story of human connection, of friendship, and of growing into your own skin.

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 352pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HarperCollins cecelia-ahern.com

Our Woman in Moscow B E ATR I Z WI L L I AMS

The Silence of Scheherazade D E F N E SUMAN On an orange-tinted evening in September 1905, Scheherazade is born to an opium-dazed mother in the ancient city of Smyrna. At the very same moment, a dashing Indian spy arrives in the harbour with a secret mission from the British Empire. He sails in, finding golden- hued spires and minarets, scents of fig and sycamore, and the cries of street hawkers selling their wares. When he leaves, seventeen years later, it will be to the heavy smell of kerosene and smoke as the city, and its people, are engulfed in flames. But let us not rush, for much will happen between then and now. Birth, death, romance and grief are all to come as these peaceful, cosmopolitan streets are used as bargaining chips in the wake of the First World War.

In 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the estranged twin sister she hasn’t seen since 1940. Since that one catastrophic summer in Rome, as war was engulfing Europe and Iris was falling desperately in love … Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of Agent Fox in a precarious plot to extract her sister from behind the Iron Curtain. But the truth behind Iris’s marriage threatens to unravel everything, and as the sisters race to safety, a dogged Soviet KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice …

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 400pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HarperCollins

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 512pp AU $32.99 NZ $35.00 Imprint: Head of Zeus

beatrizwilliams.com

F ICT ION

Daughters of War D I NAH J E F F E R I E S France, 1944.

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 544pp AU $24.99 NZ $29.00 Imprint: HarperCollins dinahjefferies.com

Deep in the river valley of the Dordogne, in an old stone cottage on the edge of a beautiful village, three sisters long for the end of the war. Hélène, the eldest, is trying her hardest to steer her family to safety, even as the Nazi occupation becomes more threatening. Elise, the rebel, is determined to help the Resistance, whatever the cost. And Florence, the dreamer, just yearns for a world where France is free. One dark night, the Allies come knocking for help. And Hélène knows that she cannot sit on the sidelines any longer. But secrets from their own mysterious past threaten to unravel everything they hold most dear … The first in an epic new series from the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller, Daughters of War is a stunning tale of sisters, secrets and bravery in the darkness of war-torn France …

The Buchanan Girls EM I LY MADD E N A sweeping family saga about betrayal, forgiveness and the cost of love. Sydney, 1941: Olive and Ivy may be identical twins, but they couldn’t be more different. While Olive is focused on marrying a man appropriate to her station, Ivy wants to do more, to be more. Joining the Australian Women’s Army Service is the perfect chance for her to escape her family obligations and make a real difference in the world. She doesn’t expect serving her country to lead to romance ... or devastating betrayal and unthinkable grief. Released: 01/09/2021 TPB | 448pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: Mira

Lord Somerton’s Heir A L I SON S TUAR T First love left them desolate ... can a new love heal their wounds? A tale of second chance love in aristocratic Regency England, for lovers of all things Bridgerton. ‘In the wake of Waterloo, a richly detailed historical romance with plenty of danger, deception and derring-do.’ - Anne Gracie, international award-winning author.

Released: 01/09/2021 TPB | 416pp AU $27.99 NZ $29.99 Imprint: Mira alisonstuart.com

F ICT ION

The Last Exiles ANN SH I N

The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer I L SA E VANS

A searing portrait of a young couple in Pyongyang and their fight for love and freedom. In this vivid and moving story, Ann Shin offers a rare glimpse at life inside the guarded walls of North Korea. Inspired by real stories of incredible bravery, The Last Exiles is a stunning debut about love, sacrifice and the price of liberty. Released: 28/07/21 TPB | 320pp

Two women abduct and hide out with their four-year-old granddaughter Avery, who they suspect is being harmed. They both love Avery ... shame they can’t stand each other. A wise and witty novel for readers of Sophie Green and Brooke Davis. ‘fantastic, fresh and unexpected’ - Cassie Hamer, author of After the Party

Released: 01/09/2021 TPB | 480pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HQ Fiction

AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HQ FICTION

annshin.com

ilsaevans.com

Did You Miss Me? SOPH I A MON E Y- COUT T S You never forget the one that got away, do you? Nell Mason is extremely happy with her life – or at least, that’s what she tells herself. But when Nell bumps into childhood friend and first love Arthur Drummond who broke her heart fifteen years ago, she’s more than a little shaken. The seemingly perfect life she’s worked so hard for starts to feel, well, less perfect. Maybe Nell’s been kidding herself all these years. Can she ever get over her first love? Released: 01/09/2021 TPB | 416pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HQ Fiction

ME R E D I TH APPL E YARD All About Ella

At 70, and widowed, Ella is about to find out that blood is not always thicker than water. A wise and warm-hearted story about aging, family and community for readers of Tricia Stringer and Liz Byrski. A keenly observed story about aging and its inherent vulnerability, about community and chosen family, about how family stressors shape us all, about trust and loyalty, and about standing up for yourself.

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 416pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: HQ Fiction

meredithappleyard.com.au

sophiamoneycoutts.com

F ICT ION

Magpie E L I Z AB E TH DAY From award-winning author and broadcaster Elizabeth Day (her chart- topping podcast How To Fail celebrates all that has not gone right), her novel Magpie , looks at the relationships women have with each other and themselves. She has almost everything. The rest she’ll take. Marisa may have only known Jake a few months, but she has never felt this certain about anyone. When he asks her to move in with him and they start trying for a baby, she knows she has finally found the steadfast love and support she has been looking for all her life. But their relationship is tested when they take in a lodger, Kate, who has little regard for personal boundaries and seems to take an uncomfortable interest in Jake – as well as the baby they are hoping to have. Why is Kate so obsessed with the couple? And, more worryingly, why doesn’t Jake share Marisa’s concern? In her determination to find the answers, Marisa risks losing everything she holds dear…

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

HONOR É E FANNON E J E F F E RS The 2020 National Book Award- nominated poet makes her fiction debut with this magisterial epic that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era. The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the problem of race in America, and what he called ‘double consciousness,’ a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors – Indigenous, Black, and white – in the Deep South. In doing so, Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story – and the song – of America itself.

Released: 01/09/21 B+P | 336pp AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: 4th Estate elizabethdayonline.co.uk

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 816pp AU $32.99 NZ $35.00 Imprint: 4th Estate honoreejeffers.com

F ICT ION

SEP TEMBER 2 021 – NON - F ICT ION

The Everday Hero Manifesto ROB I N SHARMA For over twenty-five years, leadership legend and personal mastery trailblazer Robin Sharma has mentored billionaires, business titans, professional sports superstars and entertainment royalty via a revolutionary methodology that has caused them to accomplish rare-air results. Now, in this groundbreaking book, he makes this transformational system available to anyone ready for undefeatable positivity, monumental productivity, deep spiritual freedom and a life of helpfulness to many. In The Everyday Hero Manifesto you will discover:

Blueprint ROS S E DGL E Y

Ross Edgley has spent decades perfecting the principles and practice of extreme fitness to achieve the impossible. Following a career-threatening injury in 2018, Ross was forced to reassess his training and take the next steps in a lifelong journey of redefining what the human body is capable of. In Blueprint , Ross shares the cutting-edge training program that empowered him to rebuild his body from surgery and a doctor’s gloomy prognosis in just 365 days to complete a world-record swim. Whether it’s climbing a mountain, swimming the English Channel or competing in a gruelling triathlon, Blueprint will teach

· The hidden habits used by many of the world’s most creative and successful people to realise their visionary ambitions · Original techniques to turn fear into fuel, problems into power and past troubles into triumphs · A breakthrough blueprint to battle-proof yourself against distraction and procrastination so that you produce magic that dominates your domain · Pioneering insights on installing world-class routines, including rising early, achieving superhuman fitness and becoming the most disciplined person you know · Unusual wisdom and knowledge to operate with far more simplicity, beauty and peace Part memoir of a life richly lived, part instruction manual for virtuoso-grade performance and part handbook for spiritual freedom in an age of high- velocity change, The Everyday Hero Manifesto will completely transform your life. Forever. robinsharma.com

you the tried and tested principles of sports science that have been used for decades by Olympians, explorers and adventurers at the limits of peak physical endurance. Blueprint applies the same principles that enabled Ross to complete extreme feats such as the World’s Longest Sea Swim, World’s Longest Rope Climb, World’s Heaviest Triathlon and World’s Strongest Marathon. Ross is your elite guide to achieving the impossible in the gym and beyond. Featuring almost 30 tailored workouts for different phases of training, packed with digestible sports science to help you optimise your workouts, and interspersed with Ross’ own daring adventures across the world, Blueprint is the ultimate guide to optimising your time and training to make the impossible possible.

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 384pp AU $34.99 NZ $39.99 Imprint: HarperCollins

rossedgley.com

Released: 15/09/21 TPB | 400pp AU $34.99 NZ $39.99 Imprint: HarperCollins

NON - F ICT ION

Ten Thousand Aftershocks M I CH E L L E TOM

After Michelle Tom’s house was damaged by a deadly magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011, she and her young family suffered through another 10,000 aftershocks before finally relocating to the stability of Melbourne, Australia. But soon after arriving, Michelle received the news that her estranged sister was dying. Determined to reconnect before her sister died, Michelle flew home to visit, and memories of childhood flooded back. Told through the five stages of an earthquake via remembered fragments, Michelle Tom explores the similarities between seismic upheaval and her own family’s tragedies: her sister’s terminal illness, her brother’s struggle with schizophrenia and ultimate suicide, the sudden death of her father, her own panic disorder and, through it all, one overarching battle – her lifelong struggle to form a healthy connection with her mother.

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 368pp AU $34.99 NZ $36.99 Imprint: 4th Estate

Yates Garden Guide YAT E S & ANG I E THOMAS Our bestselling practical gardening book – fully revised and updated This new edition of the ever- popular Yates Garden Guide has been fully revised and updated to help today’s gardeners tame big backyards, create stylish retreats, tend productive and decorative plantings, and get the most out of smaller spaces. Full of comprehensive, reliable and practical gardening advice for experienced green thumbs and keen beginners alike, Yates Garden Guide is the essential companion for every gardener.

Fighting Spirit Produced in partnership with the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and NewsCorp Australia. Australia’s Black Summer of 2019-2020 will never be forgotten. The tragedy of lost lives, homes, livelihoods, land and wildlife, and the subsequent rallying of courageous communities across the country, are captured in this unique photographic tribute to the fighting spirit of the people of Australia. Including a foreword from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, an introduction by award- winning author Trent Dalton, community contributions and two poems selected through a national competition for school children, this book reflects the healing power of community, kindness and hope.

Fighting Spirit

F I NA L COV E R TO COME

Released: 01/09/21 TPB | 528pp AU $45.00 NZ $49.99 Imprint: HarperCollins

Released: 15/09/21 TPB | 240pp AU $49.99 NZ $55.00 Imprint: HarperCollins

NON - F ICT ION

Listen K ATHRYN MANN I X

A child coming out to their parent. A family losing someone to terminal illness. A friend noticing the first signs of someone’s dementia. A career advisor and a teenager with radically different perspectives. There are moments when we must talk, listen and be there for one another. Why do we so often come away from those times feeling like we could have done more, or should have been braver in the face of discomfort? Why do we skirt the conversations that might matter most? By bringing together deeply moving stories with a lifetime’s experience working in medicine and the newest psychology, Mannix offers lessons for how we can better speak our mind and help when others need to. There is probably a conversation that you are currently avoiding having. This is a book to help you have it, to help you be there for others, to help you ask for what you want and need, to help you be less unsure in the face of change and challenge.

Released: 15/09/21 B+P | 272pp AU $27.99 NZ $32.99 Imprint: William Collins

Killing Juanita PE T E R R E E S The award-winning, definitive account of Australia’s most notorious cold case, now fully updated with new information. On 4 July 1975, Juanita Nielsen set out on foot through the wintry streets of Sydney’s red- light district. The chic heiress and newspaper publisher had a business meeting with a man called Eddie Trigg, a manager at the seedy Carousel Cabaret nightclub in Kings Cross. The following day, Juanita was reported missing. She has not been seen since and her body has never been found. Despite two police investigations, a coronial inquest and a federal parliament inquiry, the disappearance of Juanita Nielsen remains one of Australia’s great unsolved murder mysteries. The most pressing question now is why? Killing Juanita is an unflinching examination of this cold case and its chief protagonists, not least Juanita Nielsen. An ardent campaigner fighting the proposed demolition of historic houses in the Cross, she was a thorn in the side of a powerful property developer with links to notorious crime bosses. Winner of the 2004 Ned Kelly Award for True Crime and now fully updated with new information, Killing Juanita is a compelling story of greed, corruption, dirty politics and cover-ups. It finally puts to rest decades of speculation, providing the definitive answer that authorities never could – or would.

Released: 01/09/21 BPB | 352pp AU $24.99 NZ $27.99 Imprint: ABC Books

Killing Juanita

PE T E R R E E S

F I NA L COV E R TO COME

NON - F ICT ION

SEP TEMBER 2 021 – CHI LDREN’ S & YA

The School for Talking Pets K E L L I ANN E HAWK I NS ( I L L . B E TH HARV E Y ) Doctor Dolittle meets Willy Wonka in this funny and thrilling adventure from an exciting new voice. Pets? Tick! TALKING pets? Double tick! Silly spies, secret plots and one shy kid who might just save the day? Tick, tick, tick! Anything’s possible at the School for Talking Pets ... When Rusty Mulligan and his pet blue-tongued lizard win a week on a secret island, at Miss Alice Einstein’s School for Talking Pets, the shy twelve-year-old is thrilled. His best friend will learn to talk! But once on the island, things don’t go to plan ... And Rusty must work with the other competition winners, a terrifyingly tattooed gardener, and a multitude of clever animals to save the school from the clutches of the two secret agents who have come to shut it down – by any means necessary ...

Released: 01/09/21 PB | 336pp | Ages 8+ AU $16.99 NZ $19.99 Imprint: HarperCollins kellihawkins.com.au

bethharvey.com

Pax, Journey Home SAR A PE NNYPACK E R ( I L L . JON K L AS S E N ) From bestselling and award-winning author Sara Pennypacker comes the long-awaited sequel to Pax; gorgeously crafted, utterly compelling with stunning illustrations by award-winning author and illustrator Jon Klassen. It’s been a year since Peter and his pet fox, Pax, have seen each other. Once inseparable, they now lead very different lives. Pax must protect his litter of kits in a dangerous world. Meanwhile Peter, orphaned after the war, has left his adopted home and joined the Water Warriors, a group determined to heal the land from the scars of the war. When one of Pax’s kits falls desperately ill, he turns to the one human he knows he can trust. And no matter how hard Peter tries to harden his broken heart, love keeps finding a way in. Now both boy and fox find themselves on journeys toward home, healing – and each other. A breathtaking novel about chosen families and the healing power of love.

The Curse of the Vampire Robot GR A EME BAS E

Classic vampire mythology meets nerdy computer-speak in a rhyming tale of adventure, bravery and compassion from master storyteller Graeme Base. Deep in the Scottish Highlands, many years from now ... Gertie Gif, a lowly cleaning droid from the village of Loch Lan, sets out on an heroic quest to liberate her fellow robo- folk from the curse of a legendary, battery-draining laptop who lives in the castle on the hill. Will Gertie and her little software-wolf companion succeed in cleaning out the vampire’s corrupted heart? Or will the Curse of Voltoid remain forever hanging over the valley?

Released: 01/09/2021 HB | 32pp | Ages 5+ AU $24.99 NZ $29.99 Imprint: HarperCollins graemebase.com.au

Released: 01/09/21 HB | 256pp | Ages 9+ AU $19.99 NZ $22.99 Imprint: HarperCollins sarapennypacker.com

CH I LDR EN ’ S & YA

Witched!: The Spellbinding Life of Cora Bell R E B E CCA MCR I TCH I E ( I L L . SHARON O’ CONNOR )

The Story of Us M I CHA E L WAGN E R ( I L L . B E CK F E I N E R ) Every family has their stories ... An heirloom in the making. Remember the time when Mum ... How about when Dad found the ... This is just like when Grandma used to ... The Story of Us makes it easy and fun to share family stories with your children, to capture them in the book’s pages, and to create a keepsake to treasure forever. Whether the stories are funny, sad, exciting, scary or even weird, sharing them with your children will give them a stronger sense of their place in the world, and the feeling that they’re part of something big and important – their family. Stories are the glue that holds us together, and this precious, inspiring book is an heirloom in the making.

There’s a Ghost in this House OL I V E R J E F F E RS A captivating new picture book with interactive transparent pages, from world-renowned artist Oliver Jeffers. Hello, come in. Maybe you can help me? A young girl lives in a haunted house, but has never seen a ghost. Are they white with holes for eyes? Are they hard to see? She’d love to know! Step inside and turn the transparent pages to help her on an entertaining ghost hunt, from behind the sofa, right up to the attic. With lots of friendly ghost surprises and incredible mixed media illustrations, this unique and funny book will entertain young readers over and over again! werewolves, gross beetle worms and a vengeful warlock in order to save her. But as questions about her long-lost parents arise, Cora and her fairy friends begin a search for the one person who might hold all the answers. The one person who disappeared the same night Cora’s parents did. Will Cora finally discover the truth about her family? Or will the evil syphon return to finish what he started, and destroy Cora once and for all? Released: 01/09/21 PB | 320pp | Ages 8+ AU $17.99 NZ $19.99 Imprint: HarperCollins From the talented author of Whimsy and Woe comes the final title in the series about Cora, an orphan who could be magical! The final fight against magic ... Cora Bell is racing against time. With her beloved guardian, Dot, badly injured, Cora must face fearsome

Released: 01/09/2021 HB | 64pp | Ages 3+ AU $24.99 NZ $29.99 Imprint: ABC Books michaelwagner.com.au

beckfeiner.myportfolio.com

Little Monsters DAV I D WA L L I AMS ( I L L . ADAM S TOWE R ) Howl with laughter and squeal with

delight at this monstrously exciting new picture book from number one bestselling author David Walliams, illustrated by the awesome Adam Stower! Howler is a small werewolf with a big problem. He is just not scary! And that makes him the odd one out at Monster School. But when Howler finds some new friends, he discovers that being the odd one out might just make him the coolest one of all. With giggles on every page, this hilarious new picture book is perfect for all little monsters.

Released: 01/09/2021 HB | 32pp | Ages 3+ AU $24.99 NZ $29.99 Imprint: HarperCollins

Released: 15/09/2021 HB | 44pp | Ages 3+ AU $29.99 NZ $35.00 Imprint: HarperCollins

oliverjeffers.com

worldofdavidwalliams.com

CH I LDR EN ’ S & YA