Atlantic Books Australia, books that stay with you.
Tell us about Atlantic Books Australia?
CP: I’ve been given the opportunity to commission a list of books that reflect my taste. It is such a privilege to be trusted with this task. I want to publish books that you won’t forget, like the novels I still think about now, years after reading them…The Secret History, The Beach, The Horse Whisperer, Tully, High Fidelity, The Joy Luck Club, The Name of the Rose, Rachel’s Holiday, Hollywood Wives, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, The Shell Seekers, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Olive Kitteridge, The Firm, Presumed Innocent and the books in my list of favourites. In other words, books that stay with you. Whether they be high literature, or a thumping great read, they have a story to tell.
What are some of the books Atlantic has published?
CP: The first title was Tuscarora author Alicia Elliott’s outstanding debut novel And Then She Fell, described by Melissa Lucashenko as ‘stunningly good storytelling’. Published in October 2023 it was longlisted for the Women’s Prize and won the Amazon Canadian First Novel Award.
In August 2024 we published Theodore Ell’s fascinating memoir Lebanon Days. Beginning in 2018, he and his wife - our Deputy Ambassador to Lebanon - experienced economic collapse, revolution, Covid, and then the biggest peacetime explosion since World War II that ripped apart the port in Beirut, an event Theo nearly didn’t survive. Geraldine Brooks describes Theo as the ‘perfect literary guide’.
Also in August is Alison Edwards’ debut novel Two Daughters, which is an engrossing story of two women whose lives become entangled in ways they could never have imagined, perfect for readers of Liane Moriarty. Sally Hepworth called it ‘Exactly my kind of book!’
How did you get into publishing?
CP: In 1989 I wrote a letter to Allen & Unwin asking if there were any entry-level positions and got a ‘we’ll put your CV on file’ response. So, I bought a one-way ticket to London and got a job through a temping agency in the marketing department of HarperCollins. I moved to Editorial, then spent two years at Random House at the Century Imprint (very glamorous, met Ivana Trump, Michael Caine and Joan Collins) and then two years at Hachette.
What are some of the books and authors you have published over your career?
CP: I’ve had the pleasure of publishing all of Liane Moriarty’s titles up to APPLES NEVER FALL, Markus Zusak’s BRIDGE OF CLAY, all of Matthew Reilly’s titles up to 2021, Hannah Kent’s DEVOTION, Sally Hepworth, all of Jane Harper’s titles – I still remember the thrill of publishing THE DRY and making it the biggest debut of 2016. I loved publishing FEELING SORRY FOR CELIA, Jaclyn Moriarty’s first young adult novel.
What is your favourite part about working in book publishing?
CP: I can’t even begin to count the number of manuscripts I’ve read over my 34 year career, but I still get a thrill when I read the first page, thinking that I just might be about to discover a jewel among the ‘slush pile’. I’ve felt that magical shiver of excitement a few times – reading Matthew Reilly’s ICE STATION, Liane Moriarty’s THREE WISHES and Jane Harper’s THE DRY. When you know, you know.
What are your favourite top 5 books of all time?
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes
Read an extract of Two Daughters by Alison Edwards HERE
Read an extract of Lebanon Days by Theodore Ell HERE
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