Norwegian Historical Goes in Competitive Auction
Norway's Aschehoug Agency has sold Lars Petter Sveen's Children of God to Danish publisher Politikens Forlag in a five-house auction. H. Aschehoug & Co. is the Norwegian publisher. The historical novel takes place in Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus. King Herod has given orders for all boys under the age of two to be killed, and officer Cato wonders if he's doing the right thing by following the orders. Sveen, who is based in Oslo and is currently studying to be a librarian, is also the author of I'll Be Back and Driving from Fraena.
Swedish Debut Sees Flurry of Sales
Jenny Rogneby's crime debut, Leona-The Die Is Cast, has become a bestseller in the author's native Sweden, after being released in July by Wahlstrom & Widstrand. After a seven-year-old girl walks into a Swedish bank and gets away with millions, Leona, a detective with severe antisocial tendencies, agrees to work the case. Three books in the series have sold to Gyldendal (Norway), Politiken (Denmark), Prometheus (The Netherlands), Atrium (Germany), Five Mile Press Australia (ANZ rights) and Presse de la Cité (France). The author is a criminologist and former police investigator. The originating agency, Partners in Stories, also reports strong interest from film and TV producers.
Mulholland Backs Brit's Crimes Series
Ruth Tross of Mulholland Books has acquired world English rights to four books in a debut crime series by Vaseem Khan. Book one, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, will be published in August 2015. Tross struck the deal with Euan Thorneycroft at AM Heath. In Unexpected Inheritance, respected police officer Ashwin Chopra is forced into early retirement. During his last day on the job, two events change his fate: the arrival of elephant Ganesha--a bequest from his uncle--and a murder that no one else wants to acknowledge. Submissions to international publishers are now underway. Khan works for University College London's department of security and crime science.
Sjon's 'Moonstone' Takes Off
The latest novel by Icelandic writer and poet Sjon, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was, continues to gain foreign sales, most recently to Carole Welch at Sceptre and Slovart, for Slovak rights. The novel centers on the life of an Icelandic 16-year-old boy during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Last year the book was named Best Icelandic Novel of the year, and won the Icelandic Literary Prize. Welch called Sjon "an exceptional novelist" who creates "perfectly pitched, mesmerizing tales infused with a sense of myth, yet also with humor." Licht & Burr controls rights, and sales, so far, have been made to C&K Forlag (Denmark), Alfabeta (Sweden), Like (Finland), Payot & Rivages (France), S. Fischer (Germany), Farrar, Straus & Giroux (North America), De Geus (Netherlands), Dybbuk (Czech Republic), and Sprotin (Faroe Islands).
Seethaler's 'Lifetime' Conquers Germany...and Beyond
The latest novel by Der Trafikant author Robert Seethaler, A Lifetime, became a bestseller in Germany soon after it was released there, in July. It has now sold to Neri Pozza (Italy), De Bezige Bij (The Netherlands), Sabine Wespieser (France) and world English rights have gone to Picador. The short novel--it's 160 pages--follows the life of Andreas Egger, who becomes a farmhand. The book covers its protagonist's entire life, with major touchstones being his job working for one of the first mountain railways, and the meeting of (then reconnecting with) the love of his life. A Lifetime is Seethaler's first book with Hanser Berlin, which controls world rights.
