Penguin Random House’s Vintage Books imprint will publish a new novel by Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James this spring.
The Mister will be released April 16 and will not feature characters from the blockbuster Grey series, but will be centered around Maxim Trevelyan, described by Vintage as a “privileged and aristocratic young Englishman,” and, according to Vintage, “the mysterious, talented, and beautiful Alessia Demachi, who’s recently arrived in London owning little more than a dangerous and troublesome past.”
“I’m so excited to finally get this passionate new romance out into the world,” said James in a statement. “It’s a Cinderella story for the twenty-first century. Maxim and Alessia have led me on a fascinating journey and I hope that my readers will be swept away by their thrilling and sensual tale, just as I was while writing, and that, like me, they fall in love with them.”
Anne Messitte, publisher of Vintage and Anchor Books (who also published the Grey titles), acquired rights to the book from Valerie Hoskins of Valerie Hoskins Associates in London. Vintage will release The Mister in North America and the open market in trade paperback, e-book, and audiobook formats simultaneously, with a Spanish-language edition to follow later in the year. Penguin Random House UK’s Arrow imprint will also publish its edition of the title on April 16.
A spokesperson for Vintage said PRH is planning a big first printing, the size of which will be determined in part by the printing capacity issues publishers are still confronting. The spokesperson did say that James will be doing a U.S. tour timed to publication of the book, and select media appearances are being finalized.
“Readers are going to be surprised and delighted with the romance that James has in store for them,” said Messitte in a statement. “She has hit her stride again, with an erotic love story that’s full of suspense, adventure, and menace—a story that gives us a peek behind the curtain into worlds most of us can only imagine.”
