Viking and Haig Do the ‘Impossible’
Matt Haig, author of the 2020 blockbuster bestseller The Midnight Library, has sold U.S. rights to The Life Impossible to Patrick Nolan at Viking. Haig was represented by Clare Conville of C+W Agency. Viking said the novel, “a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning,” follows a retired math teacher who inherits a long-lost friend’s rundown house on a Mediterranean island and comes to terms with her own life as she “searches for answers” about her friend’s death. The book will be published in September.
Viking and Haig Do the ‘Impossible’
Matt Haig, author of the 2020 blockbuster bestseller The Midnight Library, has sold U.S. rights to The Life Impossible to Patrick Nolan at Viking. Haig was represented by Clare Conville of C+W Agency. Viking said the novel, “a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning,” follows a retired math teacher who inherits a long-lost friend’s rundown house on a Mediterranean island and comes to terms with her own life as she “searches for answers” about her friend’s death. The book will be published in September.
Smarsh Signs Two with Scribner
Scribner editorial director Kathryn Belden has acquired North American rights to two books from acclaimed journalist and National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh. Scribner said the first book in the deal, Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class, set for fall, is a collection of mostly previously published essays with a new essay and an introduction. The second book in the deal is an as-yet untitled work of narrative nonfiction that will, according to the publisher, “uncover the industrial and cultural forces decimating North America’s tallgrass prairie and the little-known movement to save it.” That book is set to be published in 2026. Smarsh was represented by Julie Barer of the Book Group.
Subramaniam Goes to HarperVia
HarperVia’s Gabriella Page-Fort has acquired world rights (excluding the Indian subcontinent) to Arundhathi Subramaniam’s Women Who Wear Only Themselves. The deal was negotiated by Priya Doraswamy of Lotus Lane Literary, who described the book as “sensitive, insightful, and spare,” and written “to address the gender imbalance in spiritual teachings.” In it, Subramaniam interviews four “female spiritual travelers” about their journeys. The book will be published in March 2025.
Pinborough Takes Gothic Thriller to Flatiron
In an exclusive submission, Sarah Pinborough (Behind Her Eyes) has sold North American rights to We Live Here Now to Christine Kopprasch at Flatiron Books. The deal was brokered by Gráinne Fox at UTA on behalf of Veronique Baxter at DHA. Fox described the novel as a “gothic thriller” that follows Emily and her husband Freddie’s move from London to a “beautiful, remote country estate,” where Emily soon learns that “the house has secrets, and so does her husband.” We Live Here Now will be published in summer 2025.
Donlea Sells Four to Kensington
Kensington editor-in-chief John Scognamiglio has signed a four-book, world rights deal with Those Empty Eyes author Charlie Donlea. Marlene Stringer at the Stringer Literary Agency brokered the agreement. The first novel will be The Anonymous Client, which follows a psychologist who is thrust into a murder investigation “and a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse” when an anonymous client confesses to the crime. The Anonymous Client will be published in August 2025. No details were announced for the other books in the deal.
Acho, Tishby Take ‘Conversation’ to Simon
Doris Cooper at Simon Element has acquired U.S., Canadian, and open market rights to Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew by bestselling authors Emmanuel Acho (Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man) and Noa Tishby (Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth). Meredith Miller at UTA brokered the deal on behalf of Acho, and Becky Sweren at Aevitas represented Tishby. The publisher described the book as a “timely, disarmingly honest, and thought-provoking investigation into antisemitism.” Publication is slated for April.
