Sphere snaps up Mandy Robotham's historical romance novel

Sphere has snapped up The Compass by Mandy Robotham, a book that blends "time-slip romance" with "emotive family mystery".

Editorial director Molly Walker-Sharp acquired world all-language rights from Broo Doherty, with first-format publication slated for next August in hardback, and a paperback release to follow six months later in February 2027. The book will be a major highlight for Little, Brown at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair 2025. 

The synopsis states: "The Compass sees epic love and long-kept secrets collide as one woman’s search for her missing husband takes her on a life-changing journey across Europe during the era-defining 1976 summer heatwave."

Walker-Sharp said: "The Compass is a truly special read, seamlessly weaving together rich historical settings with a heart-rending love story. I am so thrilled to be reunited with Mandy as she treats her readers to these new themes, alongside her trademark feisty female heroines and mastery of the urban setting: painting bygone European cityscapes and periods in such vivid colour that we feel we’ve lived through them for ourselves."

Robotham added: "I’m delighted to be joining Sphere and working again with editor Molly Walker-Sharp – they share my passion for taking readers to new locations and giving those places a different slant through the eyes of the past, yet with stories that are timeless."