We’re thrilled to share news of TLC Client Alice Burnett’s debut fiction publication by Legend Press. Ideal Love is garnering positive reviews left right and centre. We’re always keen to hear the story behind the books our wonderful writers go on to publish, as it’s important writers understand what goes into it – sometimes luck, but always hard work. Alice’s hard work has clearly paid off and we couldn’t be happier for her. Look out for an extract from the novel in TLC’s October Showcase, and if you’d like to buy the book directly, you can do so by clicking here.
What Alice Says
“Ideal Love is my first novel, recently published by Legend Press.
That sounded easy didn’t it? I gave up being a city lawyer years ago to write a novel, simultaneously thinking that it needed to be brilliant and that writing it would take six months at the most.
Five years later, I had something. Lots of stuff from a dead guy’s perspective about the meaning of life. I sent letters to three different agents. That would be enough surely. It wasn’t.
I did some editing. Then some more. I thoroughly explored the border between making it good and delusional vanity. In 2007 I sought confirmation from TLC that while every book had its low points, this one was pretty good. It wasn’t.
It’s difficult and scary to read your own book objectively – what if you hate it? By giving me her clear-sighted opinion, and kindly assuring me that it would be worth me getting more clear-sighted myself, Anna South’s report and the editing that followed turned my bravado into confidence.
It’s difficult and scary to read your own book objectively – what if you hate it? By giving me her clear-sighted opinion, and kindly assuring me that it would be worth me getting more clear-sighted myself, Anna South’s report and the editing that followed turned my bravado into confidence. I found a great agent, Sharon Galant at Zeitgeist. Ideal Love got glowing rejections from publishers. I received another very useful report from Helen Gordon at TLC in 2012, did more editing, got more tantalisingly close rejections, did yet more editing, then got three rejections in one day for a children’s story I was sure was publishable. I’d put in years of unpaid toil – both as a writer and in my writer’s disguise as a mother. I only had one life. I decided to get a proper job. The next morning, Legend Press offered to publish Ideal Love.”
What People are Saying about Ideal Love
‘A rich and evocative novel about what it means to love and, above all, what it means to be human’
Annabel Abbs, author of the prize-winning The Joyce Girl
‘Burnett’s ear for dialogue between lovers – and friends – is second to none. Ideal Love is an extraordinary interrogation of the human heart in all its complexity. Anyone who has ever felt they might die for love will relish this book’
Rowan Pelling, ex Man Booker judge and editor of The Amorist
‘Interesting and challenging’
Katie Fforde
‘Intense and entertaining, a story of lost love refound’
Sally Emerson, author of Fire Child
And a final word from the people who matter – the readers
‘An amazing, life-affirming book … bursting with ideas, reflections on life and pithy one-liners that stay with you long after you finish reading it’ – Jamie Howard, NetGalley
‘Beautifully written, haunting, and finally life affirming’ – Susan Folkes, NetGalley
‘A complex, reflective story about the nature of all-consuming love, and of all-consuming loss … immerse yourself in it, allow yourself to become caught up in the tumultuous nature of the characters’ experiences and emotions, and to reflect on what it is to be human’ – Linda Hepworth, Goodreads
‘This beautifully written book had me in pieces when I read it … a tremendous achievement. It tore at all my emotions way past the last beautiful page’ – Susan Hampson, Books from Dusk Till Dawn
‘Alice Burnett’s rich composition of words tangles you deep within Gilles and Venus’s story, capturing the intricacies of the human mind and how it copes with love, as well as conjuring truly enchanting characters that glow from the pages’ – Laura Colledge, A View from the Balcony
‘Such an impressive debut novel with a distinctive style and author voice … a reflective and searching exploration of love and loss, ecstasy and grief’ – Marianne, Books, Life and Everything
Buy the Book
On Amazon here
Follow Alice
On her website
On Twitter
