Manderley Press

22/09/2026

Manderley Press turns five this November and to celebrate I have commissioned a very special poem from the prize-winning Scottish poet, author and Edinburgh Makar / Poet Laureate - the wondrous Michael Pedersen

You are warmly invited to join Michael and me at Golden Hare Books on 2nd December for what promises to be a fabulous evening of literary celebration: Michael will read out his poem and we’ll follow this up with a conversation about how Stevenson has informed his work.

Back in 2021 when I launched Manderley Press with a new edition of Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes - Stevenson’s vintage travel guide to this most wonderful of cities - little did I know that this beautiful little book (illustrated gorgeously by ) would go on to become our best-selling title.

So it was a dream come true to discover that Michael had a shared interest in the life and works of Stevenson too. His influence shines strongly in Michael’s writing and I can’t wait to share his poem with you, which will bring to life the old Edinburgh in Picturesque Notes with a brand new 21st-century slant.

As many of you will already know, Michael writes staggeringly brilliant fiction (Muckle Flugga), non-fiction (Boy Friends) and poetry too (The Cat Prince). Moreover, he has won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship (among many other awards) and his work has been translated into multiple languages, with praise garnered from the likes of Stephen Fry, Bernadine Evaristo, Irvine Welsh, Ocean Vuong.

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Tickets are on sale are at goldenharebooks.com and there will be special signed copies of Michael’s new poem for sale, as well as his other books, and the Manderley Press collection too.

In his introduction to this book Alexander McCall Smith wrote that “Stevenson’s writing strikes the twenty-first century ear as still being fresh and intensely readable ... we are in the company of an agreeable and relaxed guide giving us an anecdotal run-down on Edinburgh over a cup of coffee.”

Coffee and books it is! See you there!

Rebeka x

21/09/2026

Sledges to the Rescue by Raymond Briggs

In advance of our new edition of this beautiful seasonal book for children, here are a few interior details from the original to whet your whistle.

The book was illustrated throughout by Raymond Briggs himself, including the cover, and we will reproduce all 43 black and white illustrations along with the text.

Also included in our new edition is a fabulous introduction by Jessie Burton, which places the book firmly in the canon of Briggs’s other works - especially Father Christmas and Ethel & Ernest.

Our updated cover includes a dark red cloth spine, and in another small change to the original, we will add some silver foiling details to the milk bottle tops and the snowy cap of the postbox - for extra Christmas sparkle ✨

This is our winter special and the last of our six titles to be republished this year. Pre-orders will be posted in advance of official publication and as always, will include a matching bookmark and our signature gift wrapping and notecard combo.

I don’t want to wish away time but honestly this book cannot arrive soon enough - I can’t wait to share more details!

Wishing you a wonderful week in the meantime,

Rebeka x

20/09/2026

And then there were sixteen!

Each Manderley Press edition is a rediscovered classic, inspired by a place, building or landmark and showcased with a contemporary introduction and modern illustrations.

The collection is produced and printed with the utmost quality in mind, from the luxury paper the books are printed on to the cloth binding which encases them.

They have been designed to sit together as an heirloom collection - books that have stood the test of time and which can be passed on to future generations of new readers in years to come.

You can follow us here and sign up to our newsletter over at manderleypress.com for updates about future titles, events and offers - it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!

Rebeka x

19/09/2026

Stop press! A new Manderley Press title…

I am beyond thrilled to announce that next year we will republish one of my all-time favourite bookish rediscoveries: Letters from Pompeii by Wilhelmina F Jashemski - a renowned American scholar of Pompeii, an archaeologist and an archaeobotanist too.

This book was originally written and published in the 1960s as an epistolary-style read for young people, bringing the history of Pompeii back to life in incredible detail.

The letters in the book chart the author’s own journey from America to Italy and back, and were written for her own nieces and nephews back home.

It is a remarkable, timeless, fascinating, enlightening and utterly beautiful publication - for it has been illustrated throughout by the renowned Czech artist Miroslav Šašek (best known for his series of books for children from the 1960s entitled ‘This Is...’).

We plan to reproduce Šašek‘s illustrations alongside the letters - making this our first full colour publication.

Watch this space for updates, and in the meantime, happy weekending!

Rebeka x

18/09/2026

Is that a woman with a book on her head? Yes it is. That’s me - hello and welcome to all the new followers!

It’s been nearly five years since I set up Manderley Press from my kitchen table - I tried to take a photo of myself back then, looking erudite, learned and serious, but this happened instead. Not much has changed!

So, welcome to the Manderley Press instagram account: if you don’t yet know me, hiya! I’m Rebeka. Thank you so much for following me here and supporting my indie publishing company.

Now the sixteenth book on the Manderley Press list has been published (with three more still to come this year) it seemed like a good time to re-introduce myself.

Before setting up Manderley Press I worked in the publishing industry for quite a while, first as a bookseller and then as an editor, in bookshops, museums and publishing companies, big and small. It was fantastic: I met so many wonderful people and worked on loads and loads of fabulous books.

When lockdown happened, my normal editing jobs were put on hold, and so after boring the pants off my friends and family about my idea of setting up as a publisher, I finally got my act together and founded Manderley Press back in 2021.

We’ll be celebrating turning five back in Edinburgh where it all started so keep your eyes peeled for an invite to our birthday event with the amazing Michael Pedersen at the amazing Golden Hare Books in December.

In the meantime, by way of explanation of the name: Daphne du Maurier is one of my favourite authors; Rebecca is one of my favourite reads; I’m called Rebeka; and the whole press is designed to bring books back to life which draw inspiration from buildings, places and landmarks. There could be no other name for it: Manderley Press!

l’ve got so many wonderful books in the publishing pipeline for 2027 and beyond, with a host of seriously amazing writers and artists to introduce and illustrate each and every one of them. I can’t wait to get new editions into your hands as soon as possible and I really hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have loved rediscovering them.

Rebeka x

17/09/2026

15/09/2026

A forgotten novel inspired by Whitby

Even though we’ve had many wonderful reviews of Manderley Press titles over the years, this recent write up in my hometown newspaper The Whitby Gazette had me beaming from ear to ear like no other.

So thank you Duncan Atkins for this fantastic piece about our recent summer best-seller, and along with everyone at The Whitby Bookshop, for making my Whitby dreams come true. Finally, another book about our historic literary town - move over Dracula!

It is fair to say that I was beyond thrilled when one of my favourite actors and playwrights Maxine Peake agreed to write the introduction to The Moon is Making by Storm Jameson - an epic novel written almost a century ago by an author who grew up in Whitby, and who in turn used the town as inspiration, and the setting for this book.

I am also from Whitby, so in bringing this novel back to life, and back home, it was essential to choose a dream team of Northern creative women to help catch the eye of 21st-century readers all over the country (nay, world!).

So alongside Maxine Peake, a huge thanks to , also from up north, whose to-die for illustrations for the book and matching art print feature Whitby landmarks galore.

And of course to Dr Katherine Cooper, an eminent Storm Jameson scholar from Newcastle, who first suggested the book as the perfect Whitby title. We had so much fun together discussing this book at the Whitby Lit Fest and I can’t wait for a continuation of our creative conversation when we record a programme for BBC Radio 3 later this week, inspired by the musical themes running through the novel, and accompanied by the wonderful violist Shiry Rashkovsky.

In 1938, the New York Times wrote that “The Moon Is Making ranks very close to the top in the lengthening list of Storm Jameson’s novels. It is superior in technical skill ... and dramatic power. Manifestly, Miss Jameson is a writer worth watching…”

What an honour to once more restore the gaze on this spectacularly talented writer - and to reintroduce her novels to shelves in Whitby and beyond.

Rebeka x

14/09/2026

I am delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Sledges to the Rescue - the third in a trilogy of short stories for children by Raymond Briggs to be published by Manderley Press.

Along with The Strange House and Midnight Adventure, all three stories are set in, and inspired by, Wimbledon in South London.

This new edition is wonderfully introduced by the best-selling author Jessie Burton, who, like the author himself, also grew up in Wimbledon.

Following a career as an actor Jessie gained international recognition with her debut novel The Miniaturist, a historical novel set in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, which was translated into dozens of languages and adapted for television. Jessie followed this success with further acclaimed and award-winning books including The Muse, The Confession and The House of Fortune.

In addition to her novels for adults, she has written children’s fiction, including The Restless Girls and Medusa. Jessie’s first middle-grade novel for children, Hidden Treasure, was published in March 2025. She lives in South-East London with her family and I am over the moon to be working with her to bring Briggs’s neglected children’s book back to life.

In this gentle tale of adventure and rescue, Ernie the milkman has an accident at Christmas, and it is up to the local children to save the day. This is a story of warmth and laughter, following the childish excitement of delivering milk in the snow and saving the community with Christmas spirit in abundance.

But as Jessie notes in her introduction. Sledges to the Rescue is also “a love letter, written by a son to his father. For who else is Ernie, but Briggs’s own dad, Ernest the milkman, who would be immortalised thirty-five years on with his equally important wife, in Ernest and Ethel?”

I can’t wait to share more with you soon!

🎁 Each book pre-ordered through the website will be wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a matching silky ribbon, free of charge - and will also include an exclusive bookmark designed to complement the cover design.

Rebeka x

12/09/2026

Last year we republished a beautiful new edition of two vintage books by the children’s illustrator and author Raymond Briggs - introduced to perfection by the renowned writer and artist Chris Riddell.

The Strange House and Midnight Adventure were the first two in a trio of stories, written in the early 1960s and inspired by and set in Wimbledon, South London, where the author grew up.

Later this year we are delighted to be adding the the third in the series to our collection – the Christmas story Sledges to the Rescue, which has been wonderfully introduced by the best-selling author Jessie Burton.

We will have details to show you very soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share some epic new photography of The Strange House that we recently commissioned from Cræft Studio - along with a few of the reviews of our first Briggs book. I’m still pinching myself!

Scroll above for bookish detail (noting the delectable endpapers by This Side created at Marmor Paperie) and see below for some choice reviews too.

Rebeka x

These two early stories are now period pieces … what makes them remarkable are the illustrations.”
- The Sunday Times

“Two rediscovered early works show how the beloved author of The Snowman and Father Christmas perfected his blend of the fantastical and ordinary.”
- The Observer

“Raymond Briggs’s forgotten classic is just as charming as The Snowman.”
- The Telegraph

“The Strange House is a nostalgic treat … all illustrated in delicate black and white brushstrokes. A forgotten gem.”
- The Daily Mail

“The accompanying ink sketches, emotionally expressive even in their simplicity, will draw the attention of Briggs’s aficionados to these forgotten classics.“
- The Irish Times