When volcanic ash scuppers your plan for a holiday abroad what do you do? In Michele Gorman’s upcoming novel The Staycation, two families are face with this dilemma when their flights are cancelled and find themselves stranded in Heathrow. World rights were acquired by commissioning editor Katie Brown at Trapeze from Caroline Hardman. The Staycation is set for publication in summer 2020.

Two families. One cancelled flight. And a last minute house swap…

Things get desperate for strangers Harriet and Sophie when they become stranded with their families in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Each woman has her own reason for really, really, really needing the family holiday they’ve anticipated for months. But Iceland’s volcano has other plans for them. When their flights are cancelled, the families swap houses and discover that sometimes the best things in life happen close to home. This ash cloud has a silver lining, even if no one can quite see it yet.

Michele said: “There’s such a wonderful pool of energy, enthusiasm and experience under the Orion umbrella and with so many in-house champions for this book, it already it feels like my writing voice has found a home. In addition to writing cosy romcoms as Lilly Bartlett, I adore writing comedy that explores women’s lives and friendships. It’s been a joy to indulge that with The Staycation and I can’t wait for readers to meet Harriet and Sophie next summer.”

Katie said: “Michele is one of the smartest writers out there, delivering sharp novels with emotional depth that readers fall head-over-heels in love with. I’m sure many more of us will be ‘staycationing’ next year, in an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint, or due to the uncertainty of Brexit, or both, but what I do know is this novel is a salve for these tumultuous times.”

Michele Gorman writes books with heart and humour. She is both a Sunday Times and a USA Today bestselling author, raised in the US and living in London. She is the writer of seven previous novels, penning comedies under her own name and romcoms as Lilly Bartlett.

See The Bookseller article here.