S.L. Roman

TWO WOMEN, A NOVEL AND A ROYAL APPROVAL

The authors, who have been friends for many years, wanted to write under a pen name for their debut novel. With surnames of Meloni (Laura) and Onions (Sarah), they thought they sounded like a vegetable market, so they came up with the name SL Roman - in homage to Laura’s native city, Rome. Sarah started her working life as a journalist and Laura was a researcher at Rome University. Both have been teachers in further education. They released One Year One Night by SL Roman to critical acclaim when they self-published in 2022. Two years later they got a deal for the historical romance to be published by Red Chair Press, based east of Boston in the United States. A contract and an advance was offered on International Women's Day in 2024 and came out of the blue. Their novel, aimed at young adults, has been described by reviewers as ‘enjoyable and well written’, ‘entertaining’, and having ‘wonderful characters’. Laura, who lists Elena Ferrante, Hilary Mantel and Gianrico Carofiglio among her favourite authors, was initially inspired to write by her grandfather. Sarah had already written her family’s tale with her journalist father and she had learnt how to spot a good story. She grew up in Manhattan so both writers know what it was like to grow up abroad. But when it came to compiling this first book together they created a world rooted in southern England – in the Second World War. The writers constantly discussed and made notes to try and portray the life of a teenage girl called Annie who is thrown into running her family’s shop, falling in love and caring for an evacuated boy. They decided to work on the novel because the original account of an unlucky boy, which is the kernel of the story, just wouldn’t go away. Now the pair know One Year One Night is here to stay and they are presently writing novel number 2, based in the same era with many of the same characters. Finally, Sarah sent a copy of One Year One Night to Her Majesty the Queen in 2025 and she praised their remarkable achievement.