Scribe are delighted to announce that we have acquired World English language rights to Elly by German debut author Maike Wetzel, a propulsive literary thriller that transcends genre boundaries.
This short debut novel, which will be included in the forthcoming New Books in German catalogue, tells the story of a family torn apart by a missing child who then reappears years later. But is it the same girl? And if not, who is she?
Elly is a gripping tale of grief, longing, and doubt. Like Leila Slimani's Lullaby or Ian McEwan's The Child in Time, it takes one of every parent's greatest fears and lets it play out to its emotionally powerful, memorable climax. It is a literary novel with all the best qualities of a thriller.
Maike Wetzel is a writer and filmmaker, whose short stories have already been published and translated widely, including a full volume published by Comma Press in the UK. For the unfinished manuscript of Elly, she received the Robert Gernhardt Prize and the Martha Saalfeld Prize.
Rights were acquired by Scribe UK's Molly Slight. She said: 'This is an emotionally powerful and astute novel which has shades of domestic thrillers like Lullaby, but also transcends genre boundaries, becoming in the end a fascinating exploration of how well we can ever truly know one another or ourselves. It is utterly compelling and we are all thrilled to be working with Maike on the English language edition.'
Slight acquired World English rights from Anke Grahl at Schöffling & Co. Lyn Marven has been signed up to translate.
Scribe will publish in both the UK and Australia in 2020. All enquiries should be directed to molly[AT]scribepub.co.uk