Following the success of 1,000-page epic family saga The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili (translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin), Scribe UK is delighted to announce a series of fiction acquisitions, including the next novel from the Booker International longlistee.
Haratischvili’s new novel, My Tender Twin, is an intense love story played out against the backdrop of the fall of communism and the Georgian Civil War. As readable and compelling as The Eighth Life, it charts a course of forbidden desire from childhood through to marriages to others, with Haratischvili’s characteristic drama and emotional depth. World English language rights were bought from Nadya Hartmann at Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, with Charlotte Collins translating.
Joining Haratischvili on Scribe’s translated fiction list is Oxford-based Finnish-Romanian author Cristina Sandu, whose lyrical self-translated novella, The Union of Synchronised Swimmers, tells the story of six young women living behind the Iron Curtain who train as synchronised swimmers and then use their Olympic visas to escape and scatter around the world. World English rights (ex Canada) were bought by Molly Slight from Leenastiina Kakko at Rights & Brands Helsinki, with the book now scheduled for summer 2021 to coincide with the postponed summer Olympics.
Scribe also welcomes Bath Novel Award-winner Clarissa Goenawan to the list, with her new novel, The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, a multi-layered, genre-bending mystery set in Japan. Goenawan’s first novel, Rainbirds, earned her comparisons to Murakami, Abe, and Yoshimoto. UK & Commonwealth (ex Canada) rights were jointly acquired by Molly Slight in Scribe’s UK office and Marika Webb-Pullman in Scribe’s Australian office, from Hannah Whitaker at Rights People.
Debut Glaswegian writer Ryan O’Connor also joins the list, with his voice-driven novel, The Voids. An extraordinary piece of fiction that bears comparison to Irvine Welsh, Anna Burns, and JG Ballard, it is a truthful, unpretentious look at modern-day Britain through the prism of an addict living in a condemned towerblock in Glasgow, with brilliant flashes of humour. O’Connor is one of the sharpest new talents in British literary fiction and will, we predict, win prizes and acclaim. World English language rights were acquired in a two-book deal from Alexander Cochran at C&W, with the first book to be published in spring 2022.
Editorial Manager Molly Slight said, ‘Last year was Scribe UK’s strongest so far, particularly with the huge success of The Eighth Life in the autumn, which was an incredible team effort by the author, translators, international publishers, editors, and publicists, that really paid off. In these difficult times, it is good to have something to look forward to, and I am thrilled to announce this raft of new fiction to see us through 2021 and beyond.’
All enquiries should be directed to molly[AT]scribepub.co.uk.
