We publish daring contemporary stories and revive significant works from the past, each chosen for its unique perspective.
WHAT WE PUBLISHDarkspur Press is a trade press dedicated to publishing new novels by contemporary writers and new editions of works that once earned critical acclaim and now deserve a second life. Our catalog embraces discovery and rediscovery, ensuring that important voices from the past and the present reach readers who value literature that endures.
The works we publish are united by their depth and urgency. From stories shaped by the crises of war to portraits of individuals caught in the crosshairs of history, our titles explore the struggles, courage, and contradictions of the human condition. We look for narratives that not only capture the intensity of their times but also remain resonant and necessary today.
Driven by a leadership team that views each project as an opportunity to engage deeply, adapt quickly, and deliver with purpose, we are unafraid to follow where the work demands. We approach each book on its own terms. Our role is to give every project the editorial focus, design standards, and strategic positioning it needs to reach the right audience.
We are proud to announce The Gossip Columnist,
the new novel from acclaimed writer Martyn Burke.
“In Burke’s historical novel, a gossip columnist harboring a dangerous family secret struggles to counter pervasive propaganda in Nazi-era Germany…..the work as a whole is dramatically absorbing and truly eye-opening; the author’s research into the Nazis’ perversions, as well as their intramural disputes over power, is impeccable. Burke manages, with impressive literary artistry, to shed some light on a historical conundrum: How did such unabashed savagery spring from such a famously refined national culture?
A stunning novel crackling with historical insight.”
KIRKUS REVIEWS
COMING OUT
JANUARY 27th, 20-26
Now bringing back
three highly acclaimed novels…
Laughing War
A NOVEL
Originally published by Doubleday
Barney is a young comedian who must stand up in front of battle hardened troops in the most chaotic and dangerous days of the Vietnam war and find some way to make them laugh. His perilous existence is made more dangerous when he falls in love with the beautiful young singer who is also entertaining the troop —and is secretly the Colonel’s mistress.
Barney learned the catchword “Todiachen”—Die Laughing from his burlesque-trooper grandfather. And now in Vietnam, working as a comedian in officers’ clubs, Barney has to use laughter as a weapon against the insanity around him . . . with practiced storytelling skill, Burke renders it movingly here in what could be the “Catch-22” of Southeast Asia. - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lenny Bruce once said that humor is tragedy plus time, but time runs out on Barney. In one of the best fictional Vietnam scenes yet published, he faces the convergence of his jokes and the real world. - THE WASHINGTON POST
The Commissar’s Report
A NOVEL
Originally published by Houghton Mifflin
Dimitri was the brightest, young KGB spy that Moscow had sent to New York. His job there was to secretly devise ways to overthrow the capitalists. To his horror (and delight), he finds his flamboyantly willful wife Katya has won money in a contest. American money! Through a fluke, he is becoming a rich capitalist. His new fortune could also be his downfall, as his KGB bosses could shoot him on sight if his secret were ever discovered. As Katya lusts after all the furs and jewels her money could provide, Dimitri desperately works to maintain his mission, hide their wealth, and avoid the KGB's suspicion in the historical romance "The Commissar's Report."
. . . a wonder of intense, cinematic storytelling. It is also a novel that works well on many different levels, as comedy, romance, period piece, thriller, switching fluidly from one to another…Considering the treacherous characters and grimly comic incidents, the reader may be surprised but not shocked by the ending. It is an ending that demonstrates Martyn Burke’s subtle understanding of human nature in some of its more cruel, enigmatic manifestations. He has written a novel that is honest, inventive, memorable.- WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ivory Joe
A NOVEL
Originally published by Bantam
Set in 1950's New York during the dawn of rock n' roll, Ivory Joe is a love story that begins with a divorce. On the outside, Leo and Tina had no business being together but their two daughters kept their lives forever entangled. When the unlikely pair find themselves wrapped up with Ivory Joe, an amazing singer with a fiery personality, their life suddenly changed forever. With a controlling mob lurking in every corner, Leo and Tina are about to pay a price they aren't sure is worth it.
Martyn Burke’s “Ivory Joe” is the kind of book that reminds you –in case you need reminding—that reading can be tremendous fun. Burke has created a vast, unruly, quintessentially American landscape here, and getting lost in it is an anything but simple pleasure. Prepare to get carried away . . Martyn Burke is a storyteller of lavish generosity.
- THE WASHINGTON POST