Archives par étiquette : Mushens Entertainment

BOMBSHELL de Rebecca Lewis Smith

BOMBSHELL is the story of Kate, an ordinary woman who begins to suspect she’s been used as an alibi by her childhood best friend, famed movie star Lena Fontaine, when the murder of Lena’s much older male co-star and rumoured lover explodes onto the news.

BOMBSHELL
by Rebecca Lewis Smith
TBD
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Scraping rock-bottom after a painful divorce, Kate hardly bats an eyelid when her childhood best friend whisks her away to Ibiza at a moment’s notice. That’s Lena Fontaine, after all – movie star, sex symbol, supportive friend. But then the news breaks that Jimmy Carvell, Lena’s much older, long-time co-star – and rumoured lover – has been shot in his London home, and the internet explodes.

Kate is disgusted by the accusations flying around online suggesting that Lena had something to do with the crime, reporting every post she sees and doing her best not to entertain the vitriolic speculation. Lena is distraught – and after all, Kate knows her. She could never do something like that.

Then CCTV footage of Lena leaving Jimmy’s home the morning of the murder is leaked. As it quickly becomes clear that Lena might be more involved than she’s letting on, Kate can’t help but wonder – did Lena invite Kate on their whirlwind trip to provide herself with an alibi? Why won’t Lena tell Kate, or the police, why she was at the house that morning?

Kate has long lived in the shadow of her best friend – even long before ‘Lena Fontaine’ existed, and she was just Helen, from down the road. But now, Lena is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and Kate must decide whether she can trust her oldest and closest friend, even when all the evidence points to her being a murderer…

Rebecca Lewis Smith grew up splitting time between the UK, Massachusetts, and Norway. She studied Drama at the University of East Anglia, and settled in Norfolk, where she now writes. Rebecca co-founded a digital marketing agency in her twenties, growing it to a thriving, well-regarded local employer. As she was able to step away from the day-to-day running of the business, she delighted in rediscovering her creative core, and her joy in writing. She completed a fiction course with the National Centre for Writing in 2021, and in 2022 gained a place on the selective Curtis Brown Creative six-month novel writing course.

CLEOPATRA de Saara El-Arifi

You know my name, but you do not know me.

CLEOPATRA
by Saara El-Arifi
Borough Press, September 2025
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Credit: Mustafa Raee, Lightning Rod Films

After the death of her father, nineteen year old Cleopatra is thrust upon the throne, unaware of what the next twenty years would bring. Blessed by the Goddess Isis, Cleopatra’s reign is plagued by Roman intervention that even her deity cannot stop. She must navigate the Roman civil war, the wrath of the gods, but most of all the lure of love. Writing back to the millenia of propaganda and myth-making, El-Arifi weaves together a never seen before rendition of Cleopatra in this captivating new tale. With the magical spark of Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne and the feminist heart of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Cleopatra promises a spell-binding adventure in the land of ancient Egypt.

Saara El-Arifi is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Final Strife and The Battle Drum, the first two instalments of The Ending Fire Trilogy inspired by her Ghanaian and Sudanese heritage, and much beloved on Tik Tok. El-Arifi knew she was a storyteller from the moment she told her first lie. Over the years, she has perfected her tall tales into epic ones. She has lived in many countries, had many jobs, and owned many more cats. After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to complete a master’s degree in African studies alongside her writing career. She currently resides in London as a full-time procrastinator.

THE HOUSEHOLD de Stacey Halls

From the Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the Women’s Prize Futures Award, the captivating, highly anticipated new novel, inspired by real historical figures and events..

THE HOUSEHOLD
by Stacey Halls
April 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)

In a quiet house in the countryside outside London, the finishing touches are being made to welcome a group of young women. The house and its location are top secret, its residents unknown to one another, but the girls have one thing in common: they are fallen. Offering refuge for prostitutes, petty thieves and the destitute, Urania Cottage is a second chance at life – but how badly do they want it?

Meanwhile, a few miles away in a Piccadilly mansion, millionairess Angela Burdett-Coutts, one of the benefactors of Urania Cottage, makes a discovery that leaves her cold: her stalker of 10 years has been released from prison . . .

As the women’s worlds collide in ways they could never have expected, they will discover that freedom always comes at a price.

Stacey Halls has worked as a journalist at The Bookseller and Fabulous Magazine, and has written for publications including Stylist, Psychologies and The Independent. She has won the Women’s Prize Futures Award. Her debut novel, The Familiars, was a Sunday Times Bestseller and was a Richard and Judy pick. Her second novel, The Foundling, was a Sunday Times Bestseller.

THE WOMAN IN THE WALLPAPER de Lora Jones

A propulsive historical debut for fans of The Miniaturist and The Doll Factory, following three women living at a textiles factory in late eighteenth-century Paris.

THE WOMAN IN THE WALLPAPER
by Lora Jones
Sphere, 2025
(via Mushens Entertainment)

After the death of their father, gentle Lara and headstrong Sofi find work at a factory renowned for the intricate illustrations on their wallpaper. They quickly notice that the same woman appears in every idyllic vignette: the former mistress of the house, who met an untimely death years before and who bears more than a passing resemblance to Lara.

As the sisters adapt to the rhythms of life at the factory, Lara attracts the attention of the factory owner’s son, Josef, and the scorn of his unhappy wife, Hortense. Lara soon realises there is something uncannily familiar about her interactions with Josef and that her life is mirroring the scenes illustrated on the wallpaper that lines her bedchamber.

As the strange occurrences surrounding the wallpaper become ever more unnerving, Lara finds herself wondering: is history is repeating itself and, if so, will she share the same tragic fate as her doppelgänger, a fate that seems to be, literally, written on the wall?

After studying English Literature at the University of Durham, Lora Jones began her career in the TV industry, reading scripts and writing for ITV, the BBC, Channel 4 and others. Lora lives in the rugged, myth-steeped hills of North Wales. The Woman in the Wallpaper is her first novel.

THE VOICES de Natalie Chandler

They say it was an accident, but you can hear every word they say, and they aren’t telling the truth. Then again, before the crash, neither were you.

THE VOICES
by Natalie Chandler
HarperNorth, Spring 2025
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Tamsin Shaw’s doctors describe her condition as a permanent vegetative state and say she has no chance of recovery. After three years in limbo, her husband Jamie is given the option of withdrawing her treatment. To save her own life, Tamsin must somehow prove that, unbeknownst to those around her, she has full awareness. When it becomes clear Jamie may have his own reasons for allowing his wife to slip away, Tamsin, trapped inside her own mind, fears she may never be able to communicate with the outer world.

In her old life, Tamsin was an eminent psychiatrist, specialising in treating sex offenders. Her final client before the crash was the charming, aristocratic Richard Mandeville, who insisted he was innocent of the horrific crimes he had been convicted of. As his retrial now looms, Tamsin’s boss Dan suspects her notes indicate she may have fallen under Mandeville’s spell.

With no memory of the day of the crash, Tamsin is convinced those lost recollections hold the key to understanding exactly what her brain is trying to protect her from. If it wasn’t an accident, who would want to harm her, and why?

Natalie Chandler was educated at St Chad’s College, Durham and currently works in behavioural education, specialising in social, emotional and mental health issues. She is a Curtis Brown Creative alumna and was previously selected to be part of the WoMentoring scheme.