Audrey Clare Farley is a PhD-trained author-turned-agent at Hyponymous Literary who gravitates toward narrative nonfiction with moral complexity — memoir, history, biography, true crime, and cultural criticism that asks hard questions and sits with tension.
In brief
Farley brings rare credentials to agenting: she is a published author herself (*The Unfit Heiress*, *Girls and Their Monsters*) and a credentialed literary scholar, which means she can offer substantive editorial feedback, not just commercial gut instinct.
Her stated wishlist is exclusively narrative nonfiction — no fiction categories appear anywhere in her materials — so genre and SFF writers should look elsewhere.
Her taste signal is strongly thematic: religious institutions, women's histories, eugenics, hidden or suppressed communities. Writers working at the intersection of personal story and social critique are in her wheelhouse.
She names touchstones that run toward the literary-commercial middle — intellectually serious but built for general readers, not academic monographs. Think narrative drive with scholarly depth.
Query status is unverified. Confirm current openness directly before submitting.
Lately
In her wishlist statement, Farley describes looking for books driven by deep curiosity — writers who make room for tension and see texture in the world and in other people. This is a disposition, not a subject checklist.
What Audrey is looking for
Personal narratives that go beyond the individual story to illuminate something larger about culture, history, or society. She gravitates toward writers who can hold complexity and resist easy resolution — memoirs that feel intellectually alive, not just emotionally resonant.
Deeply researched, story-driven history and biography that brings overlooked figures or suppressed episodes into sharp focus. Her own books on eugenics and institutionalized women signal a preference for subjects at the margins of official record. She has a noted personal obsession with Vatican II, suggesting openness to religious/institutional history.
She is drawn to true crime that functions as cultural criticism — cases that open onto bigger questions about gender, power, justice, or institutional failure, rather than crime-as-spectacle. Her cited media touchstones (the documentary series *The Keepers*, the crime drama *The Killing*) underscore a preference for slow-burn, morally layered storytelling over sensationalism.
Sharp, curious, well-voiced criticism that engages with popular culture, feminism, women's issues, spirituality, or religion through a narrative lens. She values writers who notice texture in the world and who approach their subjects with genuine intellectual hunger rather than pre-formed conclusions.
Not the right fit
On Audrey's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Audrey
Email her directly at audrey.farley@hyponymous.com with a query letter; she does not appear to use an online submission portal.
She targets a four-week reply window — a relatively fast turnaround, so don't follow up prematurely.
Lead your query with the central question your book is asking, not just the subject. Her wishlist language is all about curiosity and tension — show that your book has both.
Ground your pitch in the human story, not just the argument. Even cultural criticism and history should feel narrative-driven in how you describe it.
If your book touches on religion, institutions, gender, or suppressed histories, name that explicitly — these are her demonstrated thematic passions.
Her media touchstones (*The Keepers*, *The Killing*, *Conclave*) suggest she responds to work with a slow-burn, investigative quality. If your comp titles share that atmosphere, lean into it.
Avoid positioning your work as purely academic or as a genre exercise. She represents the literary-commercial middle: serious ideas, accessible form.
Because she is an author herself, a brief, genuine note about your writing process or what drew you to the subject can land well — but keep it tight.