Introducing 2022’s most unlikely heroine, Wendy!


We are thrilled to announce HQ will publish Elissa Soave’s debut novel Ginger and Me, who won the inaugural Primadonna Prize in 2019.

Katie Seaman, senior commissioning editor, acquired world all language rights from Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown.

It’s Thelma and Louise meets My Name is Leon in a reading group novel that’s part-coming-of-age and part-mystery.

Wendy wants to drive the 255 bus around Uddingston with her regulars on board, remember to buy milk when it runs out and to just be ok. After her mum passed away, there’s no one to remind Wendy to eat, what to do each day and most importantly to love herself. Every week Wendy proudly shows her social worker Saanvi the progress she’s made, like the coasters she bought to spruce up the place, even if she does forget to offer her a cup of tea.

But Wendy is ready to put herself out there and really live. She joins a writer’s group to share the stories she writes including the one about a bullied schoolboy who goes to Mars. Although the other writers are total amateurs, unlike Diane Weston – a famous local author who likes and sometimes even comments on Wendy’s tweets.

Everything changes one rainy day when Wendy meets Ginger – a teenager with flaming orange hair who’s so brave she isn’t wearing a coat when it’s raining. For the first time, Wendy has a real best friend. But as they begin the summer of their lives, Wendy wonders if her life would be simpler if she hadn’t met Ginger. And that’s before she realises just how much of a mess Ginger is about to get them into . . .

Seaman said: “It was easy to see why Elissa won the inaugural Primadonna Prize. Not only does Elissa cleverly blend genres to create a fantastic reading group novel but she also brings to life characters who will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Ginger and Me is funny, dark and raw.”

Soave said: “I really wanted to tell a story from the perspective of one of young working-class women we don’t often hear from. I think HQ is the perfect home for Ginger and Me, and I am especially delighted to be working with the stellar Katie Seaman, whose passion and enthusiasm for my characters and their tribulations will help to bring their story to life. I cannot wait to introduce Wendy and Ginger to readers.”

Ginger and Me will be published in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio on 21st July 2022.

Read the Bookseller article here.

The author


Elissa Soave won the inaugural Primadonna Prize in 2019. She was also a Bloody Scotland Pitch Perfect finalist 2019 and has had work published in New Writing ScotlandGutterStructo and The Glasgow Review of Books. She’s had two short plays performed by the Short Attention Span Theatre Group and has performed at various spoken word events. She currently lives in South Lanarkshire and Ginger and Me is her debut novel.

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