Here, all in one place, are the publications by the alumni of our Discoveries programme; a bespoke writer’s development programme run in partnership with Audible, Curtis Brown Literary Agency and Curtis Brown Creative writing school, and supported in 2026 by The Marks Family Charitable Trust. From explorations of grief and apostasy to baking competitions and National Trust art heists – there is something for every reader in these extraordinary debut novels.

India-Rose Bower brings us a pagan-filled dystopian horror which sees two young women, Sara and Parsley, fight for survival and travel across desolate moors in search of Noah, Sara’s younger brother and the latest person to be snatched by the merciless eldritch creatures. Wielding their knowledge of pagan and folklore rituals, Noah’s fate and the survival of humankind falls to these two courageous heroines.

Emma van Straaten won the inaugural Discoveries Prize in 2021 with her taut psychological thriller This Immaculate Body. It explores the strange intimacy and romantic obsession of Alice who takes a side hustle cleaning job to be closer to her client, Tom, and mould herself into his perfect woman. A compelling exploration of love, obsession and the collapsing of fantasy and reality.

Ordinary Saints centres Jay, a young queer Irish woman living in London who, upon learning of the sudden death of her beloved older brother, must navigate grief, family, sexuality and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland. A startlingly original debut about returning home, chosen family and the long shadow of generational trauma.

Over, takes the inventive form of a ‘sestude sequence’ (62-word blocks), presenting a lyrical examination of a sudden breakup and its aftermath during the Covid19 pandemic. Experimenting with time and narrative form, Rosengarten explores the sexuality of older women and men, the steering forces of love and intimacy and the strange archive of playlists and Whatsapps left behind.

At a snowbound boys’ boarding school, the arrival of a rumoured war hero as the school’s new gardener stirs everyone’s attention. This coming of age love story set in post-WWI Britain, is a tender and immersive portrait of hope, trauma, healing and sexual identity.

Set in 1961, newlyweds Clara and Spencer are blissfully enjoying their honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast, until a note slipped under their hotel door leads Clara to question everything about her new life. A sultry psychological thriller dubbed as White Lotus meets The Talented Mr Ripley.

This powerful and poignant story explores the sharp-shock of grief and its afterlife. On learning of the sudden death of her father, Onome Odafe must return to Nigeria and reunite with her family navigating funeral rituals and family histories that shatter previous certainties.

Leaving behind their Glasgow tenement, the Cameron family decamp to a remote Scottish outpost to open a youth hostel. Surrounded by lochs and munros, secrets begin to resurface over the course of a single summer with devastating consequences for generations to come. This heart-wrenching debut examines the cost of lies and betrayals and the possibility for redemption.

After the traumatic birth of her third child, Lana’s life begins to fall apart. Stalked by a doppelgänger only she can see, the apparition threatens to erase her existence and replace her entirely. Undercurrents of birth trauma, ghosts and madness infuse this gothic exploration of motherhood.

A sharp and dry-witted take on the cosy crime genre, No Oil Painting gently explores loneliness and loss of purpose in older women, as bored septuagenarian Maureeen plots a reverse art heist at a National Trust stately home.

Amateur baker Jennifer Quinn experiences an unlikely rise to fame as she is selected to host the nation’s most beloved baking competition. Under the spotlight of the camera, will long held secrets ultimately be her undoing?

Coming soon…

We’re so excited for even more debut novels from our Discoveries alumni. Read about four of the upcoming releases below, and if you’re heading to Edinburgh International Book Festival this August, make sure to come along to hear our authors read from their work for the first time at ‘Fresh Words: Women’s Prize Trust Discoveries’ on Friday 28 August.

Niamh Connolly, author of We Go Way Back

We Go Way Back is an epic will-they-won’t-they love story. Shuttling between past and present-day, this funny and tender debut follows Callum and Frances bonded through childhood tragedy as they navigate love, friendship, forgiveness, and figuring out who you want to be.

Georgia Moorhouse, author of Imaginary Forces

Imaginary Forces is a luminous portrait of love in its many forms – yearning, obsession, addiction – and just how messy and destructive it can be.

Beena Nadeem, author of Is This What You Call Love?

Set in a run-of-the-mill market town, this is an unsparing portrayal of maternal rejection and the resilience of the unloved across three generations.

Tara O’Sullivan, author of The Quiet Ones

The Quiet Ones is a dark coming of age thriller set in a remote Cornish village. When a little boy disappears, school friends Eve, Caitlin and Amber learn the devastating consequences of silence and secrets.