The Emperor of Shoes Spencer Wise

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THE EMPEROR OF SHOES SPENCER WISE MARKETING & SALES POINTS Taps into a growing interest in the interaction between China and the west, also explored in Jenny Zhang's Sour Heart and Lisa Ko's The Leavers

Beautiful, eye-catching cover design

For readers of Jonathan Safran Foer, Celeste Ng and a young Philip Roth

'Not only is The Emperor of Shoes the most complex, nuanced, character-rich first novel I have ever read, it is one of the finest novels I have ever read that was produced at any stage of any writer's life' - Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize Winner

Download high resolution image Featured as a summer debut on the front cover of the New York Times Book Review Pub. Date: 26 July 2018 THE BOOK Price: £16.99 From an exciting new voice in literary fiction, a transfixing story about an expatriate in southern ISBN: 978-0-85730-219-9 China and his burgeoning relationship with a seamstress intent on inspiring dramatic political Binding: Hardback change. Format: Royal (234 x 153mm) Extent: 320 Alex Cohen, a twenty-six-year-old Jewish Bostonian, is living in southern China, where his father runs Weight: 557g Publishing UK & Commonwealth only, excl. Canada their family-owned shoe factory. Alex reluctantly assumes the helm of the company, but as he explores Rights: the plant's vast floors and assembly lines, he comes to a grim realisation: employees are exploited, Sales Exclusive: UK & Commonwealth excl. regulatory systems are corrupt and Alex's own father is engaging in bribes to protect the bottom line. Rights: Canada. Open Market: RoW. excl. North When Alex meets a seamstress named Ivy, his sympathies begin to shift. She is an embedded America Market: Literary Fiction organiser of a pro-democratic Chinese party, secretly sowing dissonance among her fellow labourers. BIC Code: FA: Modern & contemporary fiction (post c Will Alex remain loyal to his father and his heritage? Or will the sparks of revolution ignite? 1945) BISAC Code: FIC019000: Fiction : Literary THEMA Code: FBA: Modern & contemporary fiction Deftly plotted and vibrantly drawn, The Emperor of Shoes is a timely meditation on idealism, ambition, Country of UK Manufacture: father-son rivalry and cultural revolution, set against a vivid backdrop of social and technological change. Rpt. Code: IP

Marketing & PR PRAISE FOR THE EMPEROR OF SHOES Tel: 01582 766 348 [email protected] 'Wise's deft handling of his material suggests a bright literary future' - The Big Issue

No Exit Press UK Distribution: Turnaround 'Who knew the Chinese footwear industry could be so gripping?' - Strong Words Harpenden 3 Olympia Trading Estate Herts AL5 1EQ Coburg Rd 'Wise's depiction of Alex's gruff father, with his old-school beliefs and Yiddish humour, for me was the Tel: +44 (0)1582 766348 London N22 6TZ heart of the novel' - The Pool Tel: +44 (0)208 829 3000 www.turnaround-uk.com 'Has kernels of wondrousness woven throughout' - The Jerusalem Post

noexit.co.uk/noexit.co.uk/ 'Riveting... the character who steals the show is old man Cohen, with his machine-gun Yiddishisms and @noexitpress tough no-nonsense line' - Jewish Chronicle 2 'A haunting and intelligent debut novel. The confident and assured prose evokes easily the beauty of the complex relationships... Just stunning' - Louise Beech, author of How to Be Brave, The Mountain in My Shoe and Maria in the Moon

SPENCER WISE

Born in Boston, Spencer Wise is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the winner of the 2017 Gulf Coast Prize in nonfiction. His work has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Hayden's Ferry Review, The Florida Review and New Ohio Review. Wise teaches at Florida State University and lives in Tallahassee. OTHER TITLES BY SPENCER WISE