Foreshore to publish first YA novel by universally acclaimed author Alison Jean Lester.

Foreshore has acquired FLAX: THE LEGEND OF TULA by Alison Jean Lester, author of the universally acclaimed novel Lillian on Life, translated into French, Italian and German.

Foreshore will publish FLAX: THE LEGEND OF TULA, a Young Adult (YA) novel with the RiverRun imprint of Foreshore in autumn this year.

“We are thrilled to have Alison Jean Lester join the Foreshore list with this incredible fast-paced dystopian-esque adventure,” says Phil M. Shirley, Publisher-in-Chief, Foreshore Publishing. “FLAX: THE LEGEND OF TULA further proves that Alison is a storyteller whose talent has no limits.”

Lester’s speculative and adventurous YA novel takes place in an imagined country, but the story speaks to contemporary issues of autocratic power, colourism and homophobia, emphasising love.  “The poetic form of writing is new and fresh,” Shirley added. “Readers will be blown away by the whole experience.”

About FLAX: THE LEGEND OF TULA:

Welcome to the world of Rakana, where those who are allowed to wear blue, the Governors, live at the Edge of the country, surrounding the Undyed population of the Interior. FLAX: The Legend of Tula is the story of the greatest change in the country’s history. When 16-year-old, Undyed Tula is surprised to find that she is pregnant, she knows that she won’t be able to keep her baby, because it is not her turn. The Blues control the population via the Count, keeping the numbers stable not by terminating pregnancies but by moving babies who are born out of turn to where they are needed. Tula is helped by her grandmother to escape, and, in seeing what she is not supposed to see in the world outside her hometown, starts gaining the Knowledge that she wants to pass on to her child.

About Alison Jean Lester:

Alison Jean Lester is the author of the novels Lillian on Life (Putnam Books (US)/John Murray Books (UK), 2015), which was also translated into French, Italian and German, Yuki Means Happiness (John Murray Books, 2017), Glide (Bench Press Books, 2021) and The Sound of It (Bench Press Books, 2022). She is also the author of the short-story collection, Locked Out: Stories Far from Home (Monsoon Books, 2007) and the memoir, Absolutely Delicious: A Chronicle of Extraordinary Dying (Bench Press Books, 2020). She is the product of a British mother and an American father, and speaks with an American accent but lives in England. Before moving to the UK she spent 25 years in Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore), the result of her BA in Mandarin (double-major with French) and her MA in Chinese studies and international relations.