Bracht Blooms at Putnam
At Putnam, Tara Singh Carlson secured North American rights to Mary Lynn Bracht’s White Chrysanthemum, a novel following two South Korean sisters separated by war. While one sister is abducted by the Japanese and, Putnam said, “forced to become a comfort woman in a brothel for Japanese soldiers at the front lines,” the other is left behind in her small town, becoming one of a handful of local female sea divers. Rowan Lawton of Furniss Lawton sold the book in a preempt. The author, Bracht, is a Korean-American writer living in London who grew up in an expatriate community in central Texas; it was there, Putnam said, that she was “hugely influenced by the hardships her mother, and the many women like her, suffered growing up in postwar South Korea.” The book is slated for fall 2017.
SMP Cooks with Beramendi
The first cookbook by Rolando Beramendi, founder of the Italian food importer Manicaretti and frequent winner of Specialty Food Show awards, was acquired at auction by B.J. Berti at St. Martin’s Press. Food Network viewers may recognize Beramendi, who has appeared on Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa. World rights for Autentico: Recipes and Stories for Simple Italian Food were jointly sold by Andrea Barzvi at Empire Literary and Meg Thompson of Thompson Literary Agency.
Disney-Hyperion Nabs Stone’s Fourth
Emily Meehan at Disney-Hyperion took North American rights to New York Times–bestselling author Tamara Ireland Stone’s Little Do We Know, her fourth young adult novel. Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency brokered the deal. The book follows two teenage girls and former best friends who, Wiseman said, are forced to “reexamine everything they believe about themselves and each other” after the near-death experience of a boy they both know. The book, which Wiseman pitched as “Saved! meets Eleanor & Park,” is planned for release in spring of 2017.
Norton Is for ‘Everybody’
U.S. rights to Olivia Laing’s new nonfiction work, Everybody, were picked up by Norton executive editor Jill Bialosky at auction from P.J. Mark at Janklow & Nesbit. In the book, Norton said, Laing asks what it means to “inhabit a body in the 21st century.” Elaborating on this theme, Norton said Laing will explore living in “a body that must necessarily age, sicken and die.” Like Laing’s previous works, Everybody will combine memoir and cultural criticism, drawing on the author’s personal experiences as well as research materials such as Wilhelm Reich’s psychoanalytic theories and the paintings of Francis Bacon.
‘Lola Dutch’ Joins Bloomsbury
Sarah Shumway at Bloomsbury Children’s Books took world rights to Kenneth and Sarah Jane Wright’s debut picture book, Lola Dutch Is a Little Bit Much, at auction. Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management’s Folio Jr. negotiated the deal, which includes rights to an untitled sequel. Sarah Jane Wright got her start selling prints on the e-commerce website Etsy and has since illustrated several children’s books, including Eileen Beha’s The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea and Laura Godwin’s A Christmas Goodnight. This will be the first picture book she is doing with her husband; it follows a young girl who wakes up each morning filled with energy and excitement—sometimes a little bit too much excitement. The book is due for publication in early 2018.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Tara Singh Carlson's name.
