Joanna Barnard's debut novel Precocious was released July 9 by Ebury Publishing and has received a string of rave reviews.

Described as a 'controversial and provocative read', the book follows Fiona Palmer as she meets her former teacher years after they had an affair when she was a schoolgirl, contrasting the pair's adult relationship with the power imbalance revealed in Fiona's old diaries. Surrey based Barnard, who won the inaugural Bath Novel Award for Precocious, is represented by The Agency's Juliet Mushens, who scored last year's biggest debut novel with smash hit The Miniaturist. Barnard is now working on her second novel, which promises to be just as exciting as the first.