Movie rights deal for Star of the Sea have just concluded with British film company, Working Title Films, whose hits include Notting Hill, Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Billy Elliot, About a Boy and Fargo.

O'Connor's film/TV agent at Blake Friedmann reports, "Working Title have taken up the book with great enthusiasm and are in discussions with a director.

Star of the Sea (Harvest, March 2004), by Joseph O'Connor, is a sweeping historical novel that has been called, "brave and artful," by the New York Times Book Review. People Magazine writes, "Bottom Line: Shining Star." Star of the Sea is also a New York Times Notable Book 2003 and has just been named one of the "25 Books to Remember, 2003' by the New York Public Library and Harvest is proud to publish this stunning achievement in paperback this March.

Star of the Sea shot onto the UK Bestseller List after the book's appearance on the Richard and Judy Channel 4 book program, for which it was selected as one of the 10 contenders for the Best Read of the Year 'Nibbie' Award. Three weeks at No. 1 in the UK book charts soon followed with paperback sales in excess of 280,000, a fantastic performance for an edition published only in January. Irish recognition came with Star of the Sea re-appearing at number one in the Irish mass market list and remaining for five weeks. The novel has also appeared on the long-list for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2004.