Margaret Stead at Firefinch has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in former actor and director Emma Hewitt’s coming-of-middle-age debut novel Rooster from Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown. Rooster is a poignant, laugh-out-loud story of marriage, perfectionism, middle life, and how the ghosts of childhood come back to haunt us even when we’re sure we’ve left them behind. It features a cast of brilliantly vivid characters, including a rooster named Freddie Mercury.  It will publish in February 2027. Rooster will appeal to readers of All Fours, Lost Lambs, Sorrow & Bliss, The Wedding People and The Correspondent.

Margaret Stead said: ‘Kate and I are absolutely over the moon to be publishing Rooster by the super talented Emma Hewitt next February. It will be our first debut, but Emma writes like she’s been doing it forever. She has that rare ability to be incredibly funny and extremely poignant. Her characters are larger than life but also grounded in reality, and she has a screenwriter’s ear for dialogue. We can’t wait to share this gem of a novel with readers.’

Felicity Blunt said: ‘I am thrilled to have placed Rooster in Margaret and Firefinch’s hands. The team have been superb from the off and their ambition for both Emma and the book is a delight to witness. This is a book everyone will rejoice in reading, I can’t wait to see it launched.’

Emma Hewitt said: ‘I started writing Rooster in bed while my kids were at school and my husband was off being glamorous, mostly to make myself laugh. It’s a story about a perfectionist who controls every aspect of her life, until spectacularly she can’t. Her life unravelled but mine, thanks to Firefinch, came together. To be welcomed by such a dynamic and tasteful team as they launch a bold new venture – and to know it made them laugh too – is more than I ever could have dreamt when I pulled up the duvet and started typing.’

Emma Hewitt is a UK-born, Canada-raised writer living between London and New York. Her debut novel, Rooster, comes after a career spent telling stories on screen and on stage. She writes Plus One, a Substack about visibility, identity and life adjacent to fame, currently in development for TV. Before fiction, she made documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and PBS. Earlier still, she worked as an actress with the National Theatre, the Old Vic, the BBC and ITV. She spent many years raising her two daughters, travelling as a family around the world – part adventure, part logistics, part improvised caravan – an experience that continues to shape the way she writes about love, mess and keeping it together.

Rooster by Emma Hewitt will be published by Firefinch in February 2027