Italian Novel Pre-empted in Germany
Italy’s MalaTesta Literary Agency is representing The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti, which just sold in a pre-empt to DVA/Random House (Germany). The book, which also has offers in from publishers in France and the Netherlands, will be published by Italian house Einaudi in November. Described by industry insiders as a male version of Elana Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, Cognetti's novel follows two boys who become friends--one from the city, and one from the mountains. The work chronicles how the two become different as they grow up and become adults. Cognetti previously wrote Il ragazzo selvatico (2013) among other books, and edited the anthology New York Stories for Einaudi.
Swedish Thriller Sells in France, Germany, and Russia
Isola by Åsa Avdic, a thriller represented by Sweden’s Ahlander Agency, is picking up a number of foreign sales, having been acquired by French house Actes Sud, HarperCollins Germany and Russian publisher Corpus. Natur & Kultur published the novel in Sweden in mid-August. The book is set in 2037, in a world where the Berlin Wall did not fall and, the Ahlander Agency explained, Sweden has been "annexed into a large, autocratic Eastern bloc." This alternate reality serves as a backdrop to the story of a bureaucrat who is sent to observe a group of people on a remote island who are competing for an intelligence position. In order to see how they react, she will stage her own death on the first night.
British Novel Draws Flurry of Bidders
Juliet Mushens of United Talent Agency has sold the debut novel We Own The Sky by Luke Allnutt to houses in five countries and is fielding offers from a number of other houses. Deals have closed with Blanvalet (Germany); HarperCollins Spain; Otava (Finland); Longanesi (Italy); and Gads (Denmark). Mushens also confirmed, at press time, that auctions for the book are underway in the U.K., Norway, Brazil and Poland. Mushens said the novel, which is about a father whose son dies of cancer, is ideal for reading groups and compared it to titles like Me Before You and The Fault In Our Stars. The book came from the slush pile and the author, who currently works as a journalist, grew up in Surrey.
Argentinian Author Lands at Amazon
AmazonCrossing has acquired rights to Against the Inquisition by Argentinian author Marcos Aguinis. The novel follows the story of the historical figure Francisco Maldonado da Silva, a jailed physician who, in the 17th century, refused to renounce his faith as a Jew. Globo Libros Literary Management controls rights to the book, which has been translated into several other languages. The first edition was published in Spanish by Planeta in 1991; in 2009 Random House published a revised edition. The sudden interest in the backlist title, according to Libros Literary Management, is because the firm has begun shopping the book again. The author has published several works, including the novel The Inverted Cross.
