UQP acquires Angela O’Keeffe’s superb third novel

UQP is delighted to announce that we’ve acquired the superb new novel from Angela O’Keeffe, whose last novel, The Sitter, won the 2024 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

Angela’s third novel, titled Phantom Days, once again employs an unusual narrator – as with her distinctive, highly acclaimed first two books, Night Blue and The Sitter – this time the voice of a book. ‘A book comes into the world knowing it is a saviour, of sorts,’ says the book that is to be one of the central characters of Phantom Days. And thus begins this spellbinding novel as Isabel attends a book launch where she purchases the aforementioned book, before heading off on a short trip to London with a new boyfriend, Lewis. Upon returning to Sydney Isabel accidentally leaves the book in a cab and Lewis takes it home. There it will learn concerning information about Lewis’s past, such that the book realises that Isabel may not be safe and it may need to intervene to protect her.

UQP has acquired world rights from Martin Shaw Literary and will publish in May 2026.

Angela O’Keeffe says:

‘As a writer it’s a given that I believe in the power of literature to change and even save lives. But I wondered how, in a novel, it might look to pull at one tiny strand of that power, to draw it into the light. I’m delighted to once again be working with Aviva Tuffield and UQP, and I look forward to sharing Phantom Days with readers.’

Publisher Aviva Tuffield says:

‘It is an honour to be entrusted with Angela O’Keeffe’s third novel. She is the master of the quirky, mesmerising narrative voice, with Blue Poles telling much of her debut novel; and Hortense, the wife of artist Paul Cezanne, playing a key role in The Sitter. Now with Phantom Days, Angela plays with the oft-quoted idea that “a book can save your life”. This spellbinding, highly original novel does not disappoint.’

About Angela O'Keefe:

Angela O’Keeffe grew up on a farm in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland. She completed a Master of Arts in Writing at UTS, and her first novel, Night Blue, was shortlisted for the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. She was awarded the 2023 Varuna Eleanor Dark Fellowship. Her second novel, The Sitter, won the 2024 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the 2024 Miles Franklin Literary Award.