Iris Brandt, rights and contracts director at German publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch, explains why the soon-to-be-published nonfiction book, 'What’s That to Do With Me?,' has been captivating publishers around the world.
Book: What’s That to Do With Me? A Crime in March 1945. The Story of My Family
Premise: The "crime" referenced in the title is the mass murder of roughly 200 Hungarian Jews in a province known as Rechnitz, which is near the Hungarian border. It's thought that the killers were locals who had come from a party thrown in a nearby castle. That party was hosted by the author's aunt. In the book he investigates what happened the night of massacre, and the role his aunt played in the event.
First published: The book has not yet come out; it's scheduled to to be released in Germany in February.
Format: Hardcover
Author: Sacha Batthyany is a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger and the German one Süddeutsche Zeitung. He grew up in Switzerland.
Acquired by: Martin Breitfeld, senior editor at German house Kiepenheuer & Witsch.
How It’s Been Doing: Rights to the book have sold in nine countries, including to Hollands Diep (The Netherlands), Rizzoli (Italy), Quercus (world English), and Gallimard (France). Many of the deals were closed at auction. The book's first international sale, made with Hollands Diep, closed, Brandt said, after a heated seven-way auction. At press time, there was also an offer in on the book from an Israeli publisher.
Why it’s Working: Brandt thinks the Batthyany's search for his family's history--and its role in this devastating event--strikes a universal chord. She said that he is posing questions about an event that his generation of the family continues to struggle with today. He "looks for hard facts, talks to family members, learns that there can still be a Wall of silence, discusses his results with a psychiatrist." Ultimately, said said, foreign publishers have been drawn in by the fact that "his questions are honest...and down to Earth."
