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Kidd strikes first deal

08.08.08 Benedicte Page

Andrew Kidd has struck his first deal as an agent, selling a début about the last years of Henry VII's reign to Simon Winder at Penguin Press.

Winter King, Glorious Prince is by Verso editorial director Tom Penn, who has a PhD in medieval and Tudor history. The book explores Henry VII's final years, and what Winder calls a "great hinge in history": the moment in 1502 when the future Henry VIII's elder brother Arthur unexpectedly died, and the prince found himself next in line for the throne.

Winder acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for a "healthy" sum.

Kidd said: "It's exceptional for Penguin Press to pick up a début, but while the Tudor period is probably the most studied of all, nobody has written about the final years of Henry VII. He's thought of as the ‘unsexy Tudor' compared with his son, but Tom has identified that he turned England into a police state, created a culture of extreme control and paranoia, and kept his son under virtual house arrest. He's a much more complex and compelling character than has previously been supposed and it's an overlooked period."

Kidd also praised Penn's writing style:  "He can really tell a story with the right mix of colour and authority."

The book is scheduled for publication in summer 2011.

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