I’m glad that this has come out. Simon says it means I can tell the world now. Oops, I already have.

Leah Woodburn at Headline has pre-empted UK and Commonwealth Rights in three novels by debut author Julia Crouch from Simon Trewin at United Agents.

The first, Cuckoo, is to be published in summer 2011 and is the haunting story of a young couple whose perfectly constructed lives begin to fall dramatically apart from the moment an old friend comes to stay.

Woodburn said ‘it’s a deliciously unsettling and twisty psychological drama that had me utterly gripped from the start. It’s the kind of novel that gets right under your skin, in the best kind of way, and I’m thrilled to be publishing it.’

Julia Crouch started out as a theatre director and playwright. Then she moved into graphic and website design and she now writes full time in a shed at the bottom of her garden.  She lives in Brighton with her husband, the actor and playwright Tim Crouch, and their three children.

She said ‘I am very excited about being signed by Headline. Their great commitment to my work has allowed me to make the move into full time writing. It is a dream come true for me.’