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Press Release

"East of the Sun" wins Romantic Novel of the Year & Judy Piatkus accepts Lifetime Achievement Award11/02/2009

Tuesday 10th February 2009: Julia Gregson’s East of the Sun (Orion), a story about love, friendship and adventure, has won the Romantic Novel of the Year 2009. Organised by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the award recognises the best of the year’s novels exploring the deep mysteries of the human heart.

The prize was presented to Julia at the RNA’s Awards Lunch at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, on Tuesday 10th February. The judges, Alice O’Keeffe, Fanny Blake and Peter Crawshaw, said of the winning book: “The last days of the British Raj in India, at a pivotal moment of its history during the ascendancy of Gandhi, were brilliantly evoked in the author’s skilled hands. With three remarkable women at its centre, each with different flaws, strengths and voices, the novel engages the reader from the first page and never lets go, following their various fortunes until it reaches its truly satisfying ending.”

Alice O’Keeffe also commented, “Chairing the judging panel for the Romantic Novel of the Year was great fun. The strength of the shortlist meant every book was a pleasure to read but it did make the final decision very difficult. There was a healthy debate amongst the judges but, in the end, a unanimous decision was reached and we are certain that the winner is a novel to cherish.”

Winning author Julia Gregson hails from Monmouthshire, although she has travelled extensively as a journalist and spent time in India as a foreign correspondent.

Finally, independent publisher Judy Piatkus, forward-thinker, entrepreneur and risk-taker, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She said, “I was both amazed and thrilled as it is such a great and unexpected pleasure to be offered this inaugural award.” The RNA chose Judy Piatkus to receive this first award in a bid to thank her on behalf of so many of its members who owe their writing careers to Piatkus Books. “Judy was never afraid to take a chance on an unknown whose work she believed in,” said Chairman Catherine Jones.

 

For further information about the Romantic Novel of the Year 2009, the Romance Prize 2009 or the Lifetime Achievement Award, please contact the RNA Press Officer, Liz Bailey on 01342 323991 or eabailey@tiscali.co.uk or Katrina Power at Midas Public Relations on 020 7590 0802 or katrina.power@midaspr.co.uk