Quercus Makes First Acquisition

by Julia Eccleshare, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 4/27/2007

Three weeks into her appointment as children's publisher at Quercus, Suzy Jenvey bought her first book, snatching the U.K. rights to Hazel's Nightmares by Leander Deeny from under the nose of Bloomsbury. "It's an extraordinary book. I've never read anything like it," Jenvey said. "I don't know where I'll fit it in, but like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, there's no reason an adult wouldn't read and enjoy it as much as a child."

Written by a 23-year-old Oxford graduate, this debut novel describes how the strange animals that haunt the nightmares of an old lady need a director to tell their story and get them under control. Six-year-old Hazel becomes that director.

Jenvey's opportunity to acquire Hazel's Nightmares came from her longtime working relationship with Caroline Michel of the William Morris Agency, who sold it to her. "Caroline was my first boss at Jonathan Cape," Jenvey said. "She very rarely deals with children's books, but when this came along, she immediately thought of me."