Italian Hit Makes Splash in Germany
The two-part Italian novel Summer, by Elisa Sabatinelli, has sold in a two-book deal to German publisher Blanvalet. Rights to the novel are controlled by Rizzoli. Volume 1 (Summer: On My Skin) was published in June, and Volume 2 (Summer: Straight to the Heart) will be released in Italy this month. Rizzoli is comparing the novel to works by Elizabeth Gilbert and Milena Busquets; the books are about a woman who decides to have a carefree summer in Italy, under less-than-carefree circumstances: knowing that breast cancer runs in her family (the disease killed her mother) she is awaiting the results from a breast cancer scan.
Li's 'Dark Chapter' Lands More Deals
Rights to Dark Chapter by Winnie Li, a Taiwanese-American author based in London, have sold to Jason Pinter of Polis Books (for U.S. and Canada) and to Lauren Parsons at Legend Press (for U.K. and Commonwealth). Both houses will publish in 2017. Additionally, Swedish rights have sold to Norstedts. The book is about the rape of a 29-year-old journalist by an Irish teenager. Barcelona based Pontas Agency controls all rights.
Nonfiction Book on Nazis' Children Draws Interest
Enfants de Nazis by Tania Crasnianski, a nonfiction title controlled by French house Grasset, has sold to seven international publishers, including Bompiani in Italy and Skyhorse for world English rights. The book looks at the lives of the children of top Nazi leaders, including Himmler, Göring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Höss, Speer, and Mengele. It examines how these children dealt with learning about their fathers' atrocities.
Italian Bestseller Attracts European Pubs
Bitter Coffee by Simonetta Agnello Hornby, which has been on bestseller lists in Italy since it was published there in April, and sold to a number of foreign publishers. Deals have closed with houses in Germany, Spain and Albania. And, at press time, a deal was pending with a publisher in Sweden. Feltrinelli published the novel in Italy and Alrerj e Prestia Literary controls rights. Hornby is the author of several books, and Bitter Coffee follows a 15-year-old girl who marries a 34-year-old man. She is also grappling with the affections of another man, who was raised by her father.
French Debut Heats Up
Gaël Faye’s novel, Petit Pays (in English, Little Country), is taking the global marketplace by storm. To date, the novel has sold in 14 countries, including Piper Verlag in Germany and Hayakawa in Japan. Faye, who is Rwandan-French, writes about the Rwandan genocide in the book; the work is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy who watches his parents' marriage, and his country, crumble. All rights to the book, which was published in France in April, are controlled by French house Grasset.
Chinese Award-Winner Sells to Slovenia
Cao WenXuan's 2015 Hans Christian Andersen award winner, Bronze and Sunflower, sold to Slovenska 29 in Slovenia. The first edition of the book was published in China in 2005 by Phoenix Juvenile and Children’s Publishing Ltd. (which controls rights); according to Phoenix, the title has, to date, sold 2.5 million copies in mainland China. Additionally, foreign sales on the title have closed with houses in, among other countries, Korea, the U.K. and Germany. The book explores the friendship between a boy from the countryside, called Bronze, and a girl from the city, called Sunflower.
With reporting from Bookdao.com.
