The Midnight Carousel: Alumna’s 'spellbinding' debut novel to be published

Congratulations to alumna Fiza Saeed McLynn (Class of 1987) whose ‘spellbinding’ debut novel The Midnight Carousel has been snapped up by Penguin Michael Joseph.

Described by the publisher as 'Moulin Rouge meets The Doll Factory' (Picador) by Elizabeth Macneal, The Midnight Carousel is about an enchanting carousel that is linked to a series of unfathomable disappearances. The story unfolds in 1900 Paris, where carousel-maker Gilbert is building a masterpiece in the wake of his wife and son’s tragic deaths. But as he finalises his creation, a dangerous idea forms in his mind…Twenty years later, the carousel winds up in Chicago, where it falls into the hands of a young woman named Maisie, who has come to America in search of a new life. Senior commissioning editor, Lily Cooper, said: ‘Sweeping, romantic and utterly spellbinding, The Midnight Carousel is exactly the sort of book that I was hoping would land in my inbox in my first few weeks at Penguin Michael Joseph. With an irresistible premise, elegant writing, beautifully realised characters, and a page-turning plot, readers who board The Midnight Carousel are in for an unforgettable ride.’

Fiza says ‘when I first dreamed up the idea of writing about the different reactions to loss, I never imagined that so many people would be moved by the story." Lily (Cooper ) blew me away with her passion and vision for this book.'
Fiza’s work was first published in the WHS school magazine in 1977 and she remembers fondly that when ‘Mrs Squires (who was an assistant to the teachers) saw the story, she told my mother that I should be a novelist. It’s taken another fifty years, but here we are!’
We did a little digging and were able to find two original pieces from Fiza in our online archive:

Fiza joined the school in kindergarten, and left at the end of (then called) Upper Sixth with A Levels in History, Geography and Biology. After WHS, she read History at Oxford University, and, following a brief career in finance, spent the next 12 years helping the bereaved as part of her work as a complementary therapist.
The Midnight Carousel will be published in early 2025. You can keep up to date with the story via Fiza on Instagram  @fiza_loves_books

To browse the WHS archive click here