A Sidmouth author’s debut psychological thriller could be the next ‘must-watch’ to grip the nation after being green-lit as a future television series

Jane Corry’s book My Husband’s Wife has been optioned by two leading production companies to be adapted for the small screen.

The writer had been sworn to secrecy for nearly two years until the deal with Big Talk and USA-based Mr Mudd was completed last month, keeping it private from her children, best friends and 95-year-old father.

The mother-of-three said it was a ‘dream come true’ to see her best seller picked up but added it might be some time before it would be on television.

She said: “I had known about it two years ago that there was interest. It takes a long time for these things to be started. I had to keep very quiet.”

Big Talk was behind last year’s smash hit Baby Driver and also has produced a range of popular TV shows Mum, Cold Feet and Rev.

Production partners Mr Mudd have 20 years of hits under their belts including Ghost World, Juno and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower.

Big Talk executive producer Luke Alkin said the book was an ‘emotionally rich and psychologically satisfying novel’.

Jane said: “I became a journalist at 21 because I wanted to write a novel.

“Now I’m 62 and it has taken me this long to get a screen contract. Hopefully other people will take heart that it can happen.

“It’s very exciting, I know as a writer I need to leave it in their hands, and it is exciting as I wait to see how they interpret my characters and see them come to life. I am also extremely grateful to everyone who helped to make this happen. My family were absolutely over the moon.”

My Husband’s Wife went to number five on the Sunday Times paperback fiction best seller list and reached number eight in the Washington Post’s hardback fiction best seller list.

The book was Jane’s first psychological thriller with Penguin and was followed up by other best sellers Blood Sisters and The Dead Ex.

Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith, of Mr Mudd, said: “Jane Corry has written a thriller with a complex heroine who is also eminently relatable.

“My Husband’s Wife is a great contemporary tale in the hands of terrific storytellers.”