HiddenLight Options Maisie Dobbs Books

Marking its first fiction option, HiddenLight has acquired the film and TV rights to the Maisie Dobbs books written by best-selling author Jacqueline Winspear.

The Maisie Dobbs series has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into multiple languages. The collection, which has as its central character a woman who is a psychologist and investigator, comprises 16 books.

HiddenLight is the global studio co-founded by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Sam Branson. The option was announced yesterday at the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention as part of Secretary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s keynote session.

Roma Khanna, executive chair of HiddenLight and lead for the company’s scripted output, said: “The Maisie Dobbs series focuses on a female sleuth living in extraordinary times. As the world experiences the deep and complicated impacts of global events beginning with World War I, Maisie Dobbs touches on themes of the past that echo forward to a new relevance today. We are very excited to bring Maisie Dobbs to the screen to delight her fans and introduce her to new audiences around the world.”

“War and its aftermath provide fertile ground for mystery and historical reflection,” added Winspear. “Maisie Dobbs is very much a woman of her time, and of today. She has come of age at a period of great social upheaval, allowing for the strange and unusual to emerge. HiddenLight understood the stories I created about this pivotal era, and I am thrilled to be working with them to add a new dimension to Maisie Dobbs.”