We’re very happy to report that ON SUNDAY SHE PICKED FLOWERS, the folk horror debut by Yah Yah Scholfield has been acquired by Simon & Schuster, after a three-way auction, for publication in early 2026!  Stevie Finegan represents the author for Zeno Agency, in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Valentina Sainato at the JABberwocky Literary Agency. The news was broken by BookBrunch late last week.

The news included the following description of the novel…

On Sundays She Picked Flowers is a Black, queer folk horror novel for fans of Our Wives Under the Sea and The Reformatory. It tells the story of a Black woman haunted by violence who must now contend with the ghosts and traumas of her past as well as a new, dangerous love.

When Judith Rice killed her mother and ran away from the home she grew up in, she thought she’d put an end to the woman’s abusive hold on her. For years, she lives a quiet life deep in the forest, kept company only by the mysterious beast that drops meat on her doorstep in exchange for flowers. In her isolated home, ghosts rattle the furniture, possess her to sleepwalk into the woods, and, inexplicably, the kitchen is an exact duplicate of the one she murdered her mother in. But here Jude finally feels free.

When an enigmatic stranger shows up at the cabin, the peace Jude has built for herself is threatened. Caught between her desire for this woman and the violence that broils just beneath her skin, Jude’s past and present clash with teeth and nails as she reckons with the anniversary of her mother’s murder.

The author had the following to say about the deal and book…

‘On Sundays She Picked Flowers is my baby and my passion. I’m humbled to have the chance to show it to the world, to have others see the impact Black women authors like Toni Morrison and Tananarive Due have had on me and my craft. This book is dedicated to all the off-putting, unsettling Black girls out there—stay strange, stay gothic, and let’s keep haunting these narratives!’

The deal also includes a second book by Scholfield, to be published at a later date.

‘Yah Yah is such a stunning new talent in horror. On Sundays She Picked Flowers burrows into you in creepy ways you just can’t shake,’ said Finegan. ‘I can’t wait to see what Yah Yah writes next.’

Zeno represents Yah Yah Scholfield in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of the Jabberwocky Literary Agency in New York.