Ventura Press, one of Sydney’s leading independent publishers, is delighted to announce it has acquired world rights to the Birth of the Plantagenets series by bestselling novelist Blanche d’Alpuget.

The Birth of the Plantagenets is a sumptuous, rich historical fiction series about two of history’s most compelling characters, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, and will appeal to fans of Wolf Hall and Game of Thrones.

The first two books in the series, The Young Lion and The Lion Rampant, will be re-launched in December 2018, followed by the publication of the third book, The Lion’s Torment, in April 2019.

‘It is often forgotten in the blaze of media attention she receives that Blanche is foremost an established author of powerful prize-winning novels, and one of the leading ladies of Australian fiction,’ says Jane Curry, publisher and director of Ventura Press.

‘With our focus on publishing strong female Australian authors, we’re incredibly excited to be able to complete Blanche’s historical fiction series, and introduce her writing to a new generation of readers.’

D’Alpuget joins a large group of female fiction authors being published in the second half of 2018 at Ventura, including award-winning Katherine Johnson with her third novel Matryoshka (October), and debut novelists Angela Meyer (A Superior Spectre, August), Karyn Sepulveda (Letters to My Yesterday, September), and Joanna Baker (The Slipping Place, November).

Rights were sold by Jeanne Ryckmans at the Cameron Creswell Agency.

The Young Lion and The Lion Rampant are being release in December 2018. RRP $29.99.