Press Release London, United Kingdom, Monday 12th June 2017

Hashtag Press acquires ‘After Leaving The Village'

Gripping new psychological suspense thriller by prize-winning writer Helen Matthews

Winner of Winchester Writers' Festival prize for the opening pages of a novel, ‘After Leaving the Village' is an absorbing story of deception, guilt, betrayal and the resilience of the human spirit.

Helen Matthews's respect for the country of Albania and commitment to raising awareness about the significant problem of human trafficking in the UK combine to create a terrifying story that could happen on any street... in any town... at any time.

***

Two women. Two villages. Different destinies.

Odeta's life has shrunk to a daily round of drudgery, running her father's grocery store in a remote Albanian village. One day a stranger from Tirana walks into the shop and promises her a new career in London.

Odeta's life is about to change, but not in the way she expected.

Journalist Kate lives on a quiet London street and seems to have a perfect life but she worries about her son Ben, who struggles to make friends. Kate blames the internet and disconnects her family from the online world so they can get to know their neighbours.

On a visit to her home village in Wales, Kate is forced to confront a secret from her past. But greater danger lies closer to home. Perhaps her neighbours are not the friendly community they seem.

***

Abiola Bello, co-founder of Hashtag Press, says: "I'm a big fan of psychological thrillers and fell in love with After Leaving the Village. It grips you right from the start and it's a book you won't be able to put down".

Helen Lewis, co-founder of Hashtag Press, says:"We discovered Helen Matthews at The Author School in early 2017 and we are so grateful for that meeting. Psychological thrillers are my go-to genre of choice for evenings when the children are in bed and there's nothing for me to do other than read for pleasure with a glass of wine. I have read alotof psychological novels and had high hopes and expectations for ‘After Leaving the Village'...Helen Matthews does not disappoint".

Author Helen Matthews says:"I'm thrilled and proud that Hashtag Press will be publishing ‘After Leaving the Village'. They understood what I was aiming for - a gripping read, fast-paced with strong characters, but also a thriller with a social conscience. While researching my book I became deeply concerned about the issue of human trafficking. l support Unseen, a charity that works with trafficking survivors. I hope my novel will help to raise awareness about human trafficking and I plan to make further donations to the charity from pre-sales of my book".

Notes to editors

After Leaving the Villageis available for pre-order via the publisher's website:https://www.hashtagpress.co.uk/.

After Leaving the Villagewill be published by Hashtag Press Ltd in mid-October 2017 and available in eBook and paperback formats internationally, online and in all good bookshops at an RRP of £7.99.

Trade enquiries viawww.hashtagpress.co.uk

Press enquiries:info@literallypr.com

For more on Helen Matthews:

Twitter: @HelenMK7https://twitter.com/HelenMK7

Website:http://helenmk7.weebly.com/

Facebook:www.facebook.com/HelenMK7Writer

About the author

Helen Matthews is the author of debut novel ‘After Leaving the Village', winner of the Winchester Writers' Festival prize for opening pages of a novel. Born in Cardiff, she read English at the University of Liverpool. After travelling, she worked in international development, consultancy, human resources and pensions management but fled corporate life to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University.

Helen has won prizes for short stories and has been published in literary journal Artificium. As a freelancer, she writes content for websites and business magazines and has, in the past, been published in The Guardian and had columns broadcast on BBC radio.

She is married with two grown-up children and lives in Hampshire.

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