Scribe has acquired the new novel by Chris Kraus, The Four Spent The Day Together. Bought by Maria Bedford in her first acquisition for Scribe since joining as Editorial Director, it is the first new novel in over a decade by the acclaimed author of I Love Dick.
Written in three linked parts, The Four Spent the Day Together centres on the true story of a murder in in northern Minnesota, where three teenagers shot and killed an older acquaintance after spending the day with him. In a cold, rundown town, the three young people were quickly arrested and imprisoned, but no one knows why they did it. Deeply researched by Kraus, The Four Spent the Day Together explores the histories of three generations of American lives and the patterns that repeat over lifetimes, and is a piercing commentary on the pressures of lives lived on the edge.
UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired by Maria Bedford from Laurence Laluyaux at RCW. About the acquisition, she said: ‘I am over the moon to be publishing Chris Kraus's new novel, a writer who has meant everything to me. The Four Spent the Day Together represents a thrilling new direction for Chris. An icy, twisty, addictive journey through the heartlands of America, readers everywhere will soon be as gripped as I was by this murder mystery.’
Chris Kraus said: ‘Im thrilled to be working with Maria Bedford again after her move to Scribe. Writing this novel, I wanted to capture the feeling of psychic as well as material poverty — the shift across generations in the US from working to underclass lives. I’m grateful to editors Sally Howe and Maria Bedford and agent Laurence Laluyaux.’
The novel will be published in the UK in October, in tandem with Scribner, who are publishing it in the US.
