A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams acquired by Legend Press

‘An important slice of history told from a personal perspective‘

We are thrilled to announce that Legend Press has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada for A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams. The novel will be published in the UK on 1st March 2024. Rights were acquired by Cari Rosen, Commissioning Editor of Legend Press, from Northbank Talent Management.

A Trace of Sun is the stunning debut novel by former journalist and Grenadian-heritage Londoner Pam Williams. Spanning over thirty years, the novel is inspired in part by the experience of the author’s own family migration from the Caribbean. Told from the perspectives of Raef and mum Cilla, A Trace of Sun is an ambitious, immersive novel about identity, family and estrangement – and the very real, lifelong consequences of separation on mental health.

Raef is left behind in Grenada when his mother, Cilla, follows her husband to England in search of a better life. When they are finally reunited seven years later, they are strangers – and the emotional impact of the separation leads to events that rip their family apart. As they try to move forward with their lives, his mother’s secret will make Raef question all he’s ever known of who he is.

After graduating from St Martin’s School of Art in 1984, Pam Williams spent two decades as a fashion journalist and freelance stylist before leaving the industry to become a foster carer, and now works as a special needs teacher. She joined the Afrikan Heritage Writers Group in 2014, inspired to finally share her work by the death of her heroine, Maya Angelou, and was chosen to participate in the London Writers Award, Spread the Word scheme in 2019. Pam’s parents left Grenada for London in the early 1960s and she was born there two months later – and aged seven met two siblings for the first time, when they were brought over to England to join the family.

Cari Rosen, Legend Press Commissioning Editor comments: ‘Pam’s extraordinary and emotional novel shines a light on the separation faced by so many families who came to Britain in the Fifties and Sixties and the consequences that came about as a result of this. Raef and Cilla’s story may be a fictitious one, but A Trace of Sun still offers an important slice of history told from a personal perspective. It is beautifully written and both captivated me and broke my heart.’

Pam Williams comments: ‘What started as the seed of an idea to write my mother’s memoir more than 30 years ago, has transformed into A Trace of Sun and I’m thrilled it will go out into the world. Family separation was a sacrifice made by many of the Windrush generation but its impact – especially on the children left behind – is rarely discussed. It would be great for Raef and Cilla’s story to help get those conversations
started.’

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