- US Edition
Olive and the Backstage Ghost
A thrilling and chilling journey through the darker side of theater.
This is the story of Olive – who loves to sing, but finds herself gripped by stage fright, especially with her ghastly, overbearing mother breathing down her neck with expectations. When she flunks a big audition for the school show, Olive wanders among the glittering, enticing theatres – and comes upon Maudeville, a fascinating old theatre with so many secrets, run by the grand-dame of show business, Maud Devore. Offered the opportunity of a lifetime, Olive is gradually sucked into a story of darkness and fear, where the bright lights of Maudeville conceal a shifting world of ghosts . . . .
Rights details
North American Rights: Random House (Spring 2017)
Good news
Starred review from Booklist
“Richly drawn and occasionally melancholy, this is a ghost story with a timeless feel, featuring a city gone to seed, a decaying theater, and a family falling apart. It’s a haunting and ethereal tale in the vein of Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord (2002). Nods to Edgar Allan Poe make it atmospheric, and Olive herself, a lonely heroine with ghosts in her past, gives it soul.”