Allison & Busby is thrilled to welcome Judith Flanders to their fiction list.

The two-book deal, for UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights, was negotiated with Bill Hamilton at A. M. Heath and will see Flanders’ debut novel Writer’s Block published in hardback in spring 2014.

Already widely acclaimed for her non-fiction books including The Victorian City, The Victorian House (shortlisted for the British Book Awards History Book of the Year) and A Circle of Sisters (longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award) this will be Flanders’ first foray into fiction.

Publishing Director Susie Dunlop said, ‘When Judith mentioned she’d written a novel, I was intrigued. When she went on to say it was a caper, set in the world of publishing and fashion, I was hooked. Featuring editor Samantha Clair, Writer’s Block is tremendous – cleverly plotted, beautifully written, bitingly funny. I’m confident this will be one of the books of the season.’