Jillian Anderson Coats is a relative newcomer to EMLA, and she has shot right out of the starting gate with a lightning-quick offer on her YA historical novel, Without the Walls, which was just bought by Reka Simonsen, to be part of her brand new list at Harcourt.

Set in 1293, Without the Walls is the story of sixteen-year-old Cecily de Edgeley, who feels that her life is completely ruined when she has to move to Caernarvon, in occupied Wales. It’s also the story of the downtrodden Gwenhwyfar, now a servant in the house she once dreamed of owning. While Cecily struggles to learn the local customs and to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And meanwhile, the Welsh are not as conquered as they seem. Outside the city walls of Caernarvon, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally, inevitably, they must reach the breaking point.

This gorgeous novel will be heading to the shelves in Fall 2012—I, for one, can’t wait!

—Joan