the bukowski agency selected international rights list
Fall 2015
For excerpts and additional information, please visit www.bukowskiagency.com Contents
New Titles Claire Cameron...... 2 Eden Robinson ...... 4 Alan Bradley ...... 6 Simon Choa-Johnston...... 10 George Elliott Clarke...... 11 Liam Durcan...... 12 Colin Ellard...... 14 Alix Hawley...... 16 Yasuko Thanh...... 17 Lori Lansens ...... 18
Selected Backlist Anita Rau Badami ...... 22 Judy Fong Bates...... 24 Wayson Choy ...... 26 Cecil Foster...... 28 Stephen Miller...... 29 Frances Greenslade...... 30
CLIENTS...... 31 CO-AGENTS...... 32 New Titles CLAIRE CAMERON The Bear In a nail-biter of psychological suspense told by a six-year-old in a voice reminiscent of Room, two small children are left alone at a remote island campground when their parents are killed by a bear
240 pages / Finished books available The Bear grabs you by the throat and will not let you go . Written by an author who has much experience of both wilderness survival and motherhood, it is a brilliant examination of how children help each other and themselves in extreme circumstances .
PRAISE FOR CLAIRE CAMERON’S THE BEAR “The Bear had me up all night, and when I finally put it down I knew that I wouldn’t forget Anna and her little brother Stick for a long time. Claire Cameron is an absolute master in letting us feel grief and loss by RIGHTS SOLD never using those words. The ending is very moving and offers us real US: Reagan Arthur Books/ consolation at the same time.” Little, Brown, 2014 – HERMAN KOCH, AUTHOR OF THE DINNER Canada: Doubleday, 2014 “A tender, terrifying, poignant ride. Hang on.” UK: Harvill Secker, Random — OPRAH.COM House UK, 2014 “A gripping survival thriller … [an] agonizing odyssey of loss and being Netherlands: Cargo/De lost also has humour. The book’s anguished yet hopeful ending provides Bezige Bij a touching terminus for Anna and Stick’s journey to adulthood. This Brazilian Portuguese: expertly crafted novel could do for camping what Jaws did for swimming.” Bertrand Brasil/Grupo — PEOPLE Editorial Record “Harrowing suspense. The Bear is a survival thriller that is told from a Turkey: Nefes Yayinevi child’s-eye point-of-view, which is not only convincing but doubles the Vietnam: Skybook tension. A heartbreaking, white-knuckle read.” Film: John Tatoulis – ANDREW PYPER, AUTHOR OF THE DEMONOLOGIST France: Kero “The Bear is a taut and touching story of how a child’s love and denial become survival skills. Claire Cameron takes a fairytale situation of children pitted against the wilderness, removes the fairies, and adds a terrifying and ravenous bear. I devoured this wonderful new novel in one day—if I can use the word ‘devoured’ for a book about a bear.” – CHARLOTTE ROGAN, AUTHOR OF THE LIFEBOAT “Claire Cameron plunges us in to the dark terrors of the wilderness. The Bear is a survival story that is heart-pounding and moving. I devoured this book.” – TANIS RIDEOUT, AUTHOR OF ABOVE ALL THINGS “The Bear faultlessly captures the wonder, bewilderment, fear and self- centeredness of five-year-old Anna, and beautifully balances the darkness of her tale with a hopeful, sensitively told back story and moments when she grasps her situation with just enough clarity to shoulder her burden.” – CATHY MARIE BUCHANAN, AUTHOR OF THE PAINTED GIRLS
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NEW! The Last Neanderthal A riveting literary thriller set at the end of the Neanderthal era
75,000 words / Final manuscript January 2016
“In a flash, she could see that that the cat knew her plan . He had watched her eyes flicker and guessed her moves exactly . He jumped, but to the side . One beat of the heart and she had missed the mark . The stick would hit at the side of his mouth . Rather than stab through the back of his head as intended, it would glance off his tooth or nose . Without perfect aim, she would not be able to kill him in one move . There was no second move . She was the eaten .” — From The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron
The Last Neanderthal is based on the life of Girl, who finds herself photo by: Katrina Alfonso alone as her family members die off and disappear . It is inspired by the new science that has come to light in the 35 years since the RIGHTS SOLD publication of The Clan of the Cave Bear and by Claire Cameron’s US: Little, Brown, Jan 2017 extensive experience in wilderness survival . Through the lives of Canada: Doubleday, three women—a Neanderthal and two modern-day women—it Jan 2017 integrates the notions that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Netherlands: Cargo/ co-existed, and that they were a lot more like us than we have been De Bezige Bij led to believe . The Line Painter A twist on the classic road trip story, The Line Painter explores how the past, fear, and memory alter perception
231 pages / Finished books available
Fleeing guilt and grief over her recently deceased boyfriend, Carrie McDonald is on a solo cross-country road trip when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere in Northern Ontario .
PRAISE FOR CLAIRE CAMERON’S THE LINE PAINTER “It takes a certain amount of courage to tread such well-covered ground; it takes significant talent to make such a familiar conceit feel fresh and original, to lift it beyond the constraints of the cliché. In her debut novel The Line Painter…Toronto writer Claire Cameron demonstrates that she has both, in abundance. … The opening pages of The Line Painter are a masterful balancing act of suspense and relief, a dance RIGHTS SOLD between expectation and surprise that steadily increases the tension to Canada: HarperCollins, an almost unbearable point. Writing in a tight, parsed, minimalist tone, 2007 Cameron acutely conveys the tension inherent in the situation and, more Vietnam: Skybook significantly, builds on readerly expectations with this motif. … It’s a bravura performance. … Some of Carrie’s actions are shocking, but Visit Claire online at nonetheless fully in character. That’s a difficult trick for a writer to pull www.claire-cameron.com off but Cameron manages it with aplomb.” — THE GLOBE AND MAIL
fiction 3 EDEN ROBINSON NEW! Son of a Trickster A return to the tumultuous cross-cultural Native territory of Monkey Beach
86,000 words / Edited manuscript available January 2016
Son of a Trickster combines aboriginal belief systems and wacky family dynamics with fantasy, horror, and edgy, mordant humour in an unorthodox coming-of-age story . One of seventeen-year-old Jared Martin’s grandmothers insists that he is the son of Wee’git the Trickster, that dangerous shape-shifter who looks innocent but wreaks havoc . His other grandmother insists that “If you weren’t your dad’s and your momma tried to pass you off as his, I’d have slit her throat and left her in a ditch to die like a dog .” Jared’s far-northern west-coast Native community is closing in on him: his mom’s psycho ex-boyfriend, Death Threat, tries to kill him; Jared is beaten senseless photo by: Mark Raynes Roberts for his weed, essential to the cookie business with which he supports RIGHTS SOLD his father, who plays him for all he is worth; his mom takes up with a biker who moves in along with his pit bull, Baby Killer . Canada: Knopf, fall 2016
PRAISE FOR EDEN ROBINSON’S MONKEY BEACH “Beautifully written and haunting, this is an impressive debut.” — THE TIMES, UK “Monkey Beach is far more than a novel of psychological transformation, though it is that. It is, in the best sense, a thriller, a spiritual mystery…. The novel also contains some of the truest passages I have read on what it is like to be a teenager…. Puberty has rarely received such a perceptive and unflinching gaze. You can tell Monkey Beach is an original because you actually want to read it again. [This is a] startlingly accomplished first novel.” — THE WASHINGTON POST “Although death hangs like a Pacific mist over these pages, Robinson, herself a Haisla, fills this edifying book with the stuff of the living, from the tiniest details of Haisla life to the mightiest universals of tradition, desire and family love.” — THE LOS ANGELES TIMES “Robinson’s paean to the Pacific Northwest and Haisla culture, embodied in her stout-hearted hero and all her other vital and complex characters, does what good literature does best: It moves meaningfully from the particular to the universal and back again. And Robinson performs this enlightening feat with genuine insight, wry humor and translucent lyricism.” — THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
4 fiction Monkey Beach A darkly humorous aboriginal coming-of-age story set in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest
374 pages / Finished books available
• Longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2002 • Finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, 2000 • Winner of the B.C. Book Prize for Fiction, 2001 • Now in its 15th printing in paperback
On the peaceful shore of the Douglas Channel lies the remote Haisla community of Kitamaat, British Columbia . Seventeen-year-old Jimmy Hill, ambitious and handsome, is the pride of the village . Serious-minded Jimmy shows little interest in courtship until he falls in love with Karaoke, the village beauty . But their young romance is cut short by the news of a horrifying accident at sea and Jimmy’s RIGHTS SOLD mysterious disappearance . US: Houghton Mifflin UK: Little, Brown Book Group Blood Sports Canada: Knopf Germany: Rowohlt Verlag Young people are caught up in the violent, seamy underbelly Netherlands: Prometheus of Vancouver France: Albin Michel Estonia: Hotger 278 pages / Finished books available Czech: Havran Tom Bauer is an epileptic who has hooked up with fellow ex-junkie Film: Eagle Eye Films Paulina . They have recently had a baby named Melody when Jeremy, France (Pocket Book Reprint): J’ai lu Tom’s cousin, and his henchmen reach out to traumatize the family . US eBook: Open Road Tom comes home from his job to find Paulie and Mel missing, and two thugs waiting for him . The Kafkaesque nightmare that ensues would seem to have no place in the idyllic setting of Vancouver . By RIGHTS SOLD the end of the book, it is hard to think of the west coast—or human Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 2006 relationships—in the same way again . US eBook: Open Road Traplines Novellas that take us deep inside the gripping world of young RIGHTS SOLD Northwest Coast Native People Canada: Knopf, 1996 US: Metropolitan Books 215 pages / Finished books available UK: Little, Brown Book Group France: Éditions de l’Olivier • Winner of the Winifred Holtby Prize, UK, 1997 Germany: Rowohlt Verlag • A New York Times Editor’s Choice and Notable Book of the Year, 1996 Netherlands: Uitgeverij Prometheus In crackling prose, Eden Robinson describes homes ruled by bullies, US eBook: Open Road psychopaths and delinquents; families whose conflict resolution techniques range from grand theft to homicide; and kids who just can’t get a break . A master of psychological suspense, Traplines guides us through a world where the fast food, banged-up cars, and grunge of modern adolescence barely camouflage the dark extremes of sex, fear and desire .
fiction 5 ALAN BRADLEY THE FLAVIA DE LUCE MYSTERY SERIES Soon to be a TV series from acclaimed director Sam Mendes Over 3 million copies of the series sold worldwide #7 As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust A New York Times bestseller
87,000 words / Finished books available
Hard on the heels of the return of her mother’s body from the frozen reaches of the Himalayas, Flavia, for her indiscretions, is banished from her home at Buckshaw and shipped across the ocean to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto, her mother’s alma mater, there to be inducted into the a mysterious organization known as the Nide . No sooner does she arrive, however, than a body comes crashing down out of the chimney and into her room, setting off a series of investigations into mysterious disappearances of girls from the school .
PRAISE FOR THE FLAVIA DE LUCE SERIES “Set in 1951, Bradley’s exceptional seventh series whodunit (after 2014’s The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches) takes Flavia de Luce, a preteen with an interest in poisons, from her family home in Bishop’s Lacey, England, to Canada, where she is to attend her late mother’s alma mater, Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy. On Flavia’s very first night photo by: Jeff Bassett there, a fellow student, P.A. Collingwood, bursts into her room and reveals that three other girls have disappeared. When the head of school, RIGHTS SOLD (#7) Miss Fawlthorne (aka the Hangman’s Mistress), knocks at Flavia’s door, US: Delacorte Press, January 2015 Collingwood flees up the chimney, dislodging a mummified corpse and US Large Print: Thorndike Press detaching its skull. This intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley N. American English Audio: makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Random House Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm (e.g., Canada: Doubleday, January 2015 UK: Orion, April 2015 ‘If you’re anything like me, you adore rot. It is pleasant to reflect on the Germany: Blanvalet fact that decay and decomposition are what make the world go round’).” Poland: Vesper — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review Russia: AST TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/ “Bradley has managed to create one of the most beguiling detectives of Sam Mendes recent years.” Italy: Sellerio — THE GUARDIAN
“She now seems certain to become a national treasure. Film director Sam Mendes’ production company—which made Call The Midwife for the BBC—has optioned her stories for TV. Flavia deserves it. She is as addictive as dark chocolate and as English as Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending.” — DAILY MAIL
6 fiction “Alan Bradley has an uncanny ability to take us into the mind and Visit Flavia online at emotions of our young detective as she deals with both her grief and the www.flaviadeluce.com mystery, and somehow makes it all believable and entertaining.” — MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE “It’s hard to resist either the genre’s pre-eminent preteen sleuth or the hushed revelations about her family.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS RIGHTS SOLD (#6) US: Delacorte Press, 2014 N. American English Audio: Random House US Large Print: Thorndike Press #6 The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches Canada: Doubleday, 2014 As Flavia works to solve another murder, she uncovers clues UK: Orion to solve her own family mystery Germany: Blanvalet UK Audio: W.F. Howes 314 pages / Finished books available Poland: Vesper Japan: Tokyo Sogensha It is April 1951 and the de Luce family has gathered at the railway Italy: Sellerio station for the homecoming of Flavia’s long-lost mother, Harriet, Russia: AST when a stranger whispers a mysterious message into Flavia’s ear . TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/ Moments later, he is dead . Where has Flavia heard these words Sam Mendes before? What do they mean, and how are they connected with the hidden and long-forgotten film she has discovered in Buckshaw’s attic? The messenger’s words, and the grave family secrets they drag RIGHTS SOLD (#5) into the light of day, will change Flavia’s life forever . US: Delacorte Press, 2013 N. American English Audio: Random House US Large Print: Thorndike Press Canada: Doubleday, 2013 #5 Speaking from Among the Bones UK: Orion, 2013 When Flavia sneaks into the tomb of St. Tancred, patron saint UK Audio: W.F. Howes of Bishop’s Lacey, she discovers that he has a companion Germany: Blanvalet Brazil: Editora Saraiva 380 pages / Finished books available Italy: Sellerio Turkey: Pegasus Upon the five hundredth anniversary of his death, the English Russia: AST hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open the tomb of Mainland China: Harbin St .Tancred, its patron saint . Nobody is more excited to peek inside Japan: Tokyo Sogensha the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff dead in their tracks: the body of Mr . Collicutt, the church organist, Poland: Vesper his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked . TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/ Sam Mendes
fiction 7 ALAN BRADLEY (continued) #4 I Am Half-Sick of Shadows It’s Christmas-time at Buckshaw, where a famous actress is found strangled by a length of film from one of her own movies
271 pages / Finished books available
Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch the shooting of a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: the actress’s body found strangled to death by a length of film from one of her own movies . As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight .
RIGHTS SOLD (#4) Japan: Tokyo Sogensha Turkey: Pegasus US: Delacorte Press, 2011 Poland: Vesper Brazil: Editora Saraiva North American English Audio: Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff Mainland China: Harbin Random House Germany: Blanvalet Korea: Munhakdongne Publishing Group US Large Print: Thorndike Press Germany Audio: Random House France: 10/18 Canada: Doubleday, 2011 Russia: AST Finland: Bazar Publishers UK: Orion, 2011 Bulgaria: AMG Books Hungary: Maxim UK Audio: W.F. Howes Italy: Sellerio TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/Sam Mendes
#3 A Red Herring Without Mustard A New York Times bestseller that includes a missing child, a fortune-teller, and a corpse
370 pages / Finished books available
After asking the old gypsy woman to tell her fortune, Flavia stumbles across the poor soul in the wee hours, bludgeoned by her own crystal ball . Was she murdered by people convinced that the soothsayer abducted a local child years ago? Could this crime be connected to the missing baby? While pondering the possibilities, Flavia stumbles upon another body, that of a local character who earlier was caught prowling about the family’s drawing room .
RIGHTS SOLD (#3) Spain: Editorial Planeta Norway: Forlaget Press TV Rights: Neal US: Delacorte Press, 2011 Brazil: Editora Saraiva Israel: Matar Publishing House Street Productions/ US Large Print: Thorndike Press Mainland China: Harbin Bulgaria: AMG Books Sam Mendes N. American English Audio: Random House Taiwan: Azoth Books Korea: Munhakdongne Czech: Euromedia UK: Orion, 2011 Poland: Vesper Publishing Group Portugal: Planeta UK Audio: W.F. Howes Russia: AST France (hardcover): Editions Manuscrito UK Large Print: Magna Romania: Editura Trei, 2011 JC Lattès Canada: Doubleday, 2011 Lithuania: Leidykla VAGA France (paperback): 10/18 Italy: Sellerio, 2011 Croatia: Naklada Ljevak Turkey: Pegasus Germany: Blanvalet, 2011 Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff Finland: Bazar Publishers Germany Audio: Random House Japan: Tokyo Sogensha Hungary: Maxim
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#2 The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag Flavia de Luce didn’t intend to investigate another murder— but, then again, Rupert Porson didn’t intend to die 343 pages / Finished books available
RIGHTS SOLD (#2) Spain: Editorial Planeta Norway: Forlaget Press US: Delacorte Press, 2010 France (hardcover): Editions JC Lattès Romania: Editura Trei, 2011 N. American English Audio: Random House France (paperback): 10/18 Lithuania: Leidykla VAGA US Large Print: Thorndike Press Korea: Munhakdongne Publishing Group Bulgaria: AMG Books Canada: Doubleday, 2010 Poland: Vesper Russia: AST UK: Orion, 2010 Brazil: Editora Saraiva Czech language: Euromedia Group UK Large Print: Magna Japan: Tokyo Sogensha Turkey: Pegasus UK Audio: W.F. Howes Catalan: Columna Edicions Hungary: Maxim Portugal: Planeta Manuscrito Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff Mainland China: Harbin Italy: Mondadori/Sellerio Mainland China: Hongwenguan Finland: Bazar Publishers Israel: Matar Publishing House Denmark: Forlaget Punktum Sweden: Lind & Co. Germany: Blanvalet Croatia: Naklada Ljevak TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/ Germany Audio: Random House Taiwan: Azoth Books Sam Mendes
#1 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie A new breed of detective heroine is a pig-tailed eleven-year-old with disturbing fascinations
292 pages / Finished books available
• Rights Sold in 36 countries • Over a quarter of a million copies sold in paperback in the USA
RIGHTS SOLD (#1) Poland: Vesper Turkey: Pegasus US: Delacorte Press, 2009 Korea: Munhakdongne Publishing Group Lithuania: Vaga N. American English Audio: Random House Brazil: Editora Saraiva Arabic language: Arab Scientific Publishers US Large Print: Thorndike Press Japan: Tokyo Sogensha Albania: Morava UK: Orion, 2009 Catalan: Columna Edicions Greece: Lyhnari UK Large Print: Magna Slovakia: Ikar Romania: Editura Trei UK Audio: W.F. Howes Norway: Forlaget Press Denmark: Forlaget Punktum Canada: Doubleday, 2009 Taiwan: Azoth Books Denmark Audio: AV Forlaget Italy: Mondadori, 2009/Sellerio Russia: AST Hungary: Maxim Israel: Matar Publishing House Portugal: Planeta Manuscrito Vietnam: Alpha Books Germany: Blanvalet, 2009 Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff Bulgaria: AMG Books Germany Audio: Random House Serbia: Marso Sweden: Lind & Co. Spain: Editorial Planeta Czech Language: Euromedia Group Finland: Bazar Publishers France (hardcover): Editions JC Lattès Mainland China: Harbin Iceland: Forlagid France (paperback): 10/18 Croatia: Naklada Ljevak TV Rights: Neal Street Productions/Sam Mendes
fiction 9 SIMON CHOA-JOHNSTON The House of Wives Based on a true story
92,000 words / Final manuscript now available
The House of Wives is inspired by the story of Simon Choa-Johnston’s ancestors . In 1862 Emanuel, a Jew from Calcutta, sailed to Hong Kong to take up the opium trade . There he took a second wife (he had left the first one behind in India), grew prosperous, built himself a grand mansion called Kingsclere, and began to have children . Life became more complicated however when his Indian wife decided, unannounced, to join him in Hong Kong, and Kingsclere became The House of Wives . Mysteriously, thirty-six years after his arrival, Emanuel fled Hong Kong alone for London, where he died a pauper in 1905 .
Given those basic facts, playwright and director Simon Choa-Johnston RIGHTS SOLD has created a fascinating and compelling drama exploring a little-known corner of history . It is a novel that he has been preparing to write all Canada: Penguin, May 2016 his life, not only through archival research and family interviews but Indian subcontinent English: through travel to India and Hong Kong . It includes a family curse, Penguin India, May 2016 and tragic death, and an abundance of mystery . photo by: David Cooper Visit Simon online at www.simonjohnston.ca
Simon Choa-Johnston’s ancestral home, Kingsclere, circa 1880, on what is now known as Kennedy Terrace, Hong Kong. Today only the foundations remain.
10 fiction GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE The Motorcyclist NEW! 87,000 words / Final manuscript now available
As children we cannot know, except in the most general, mythical ways, the complex interactions that lead to our births . Inspired by the life of George Elliott Clarke’s father, The Motorcyclist tells the story of Carl Black, a black working-class intellectual and artist, a traveler, reader, actor, speaker, labor organizer, and womanizer . He was a man who struggled all his life to restore the family’s respectability, which he felt his mother had jeopardized . He yearned for the bohemian life, but felt obligated to settle for a bourgeois one, trapped in a railway porter’s prosaic existence . The novel recreates the courtship of Carl and Mar, imagined by a son yearning to understand why his now- deceased father was so difficult to love .
RIGHTS SOLD Canada: HarperCollins, George & Rue February 2, 2016 The winner of the 2001 Governor General’s Award for Poetry brings to life the true story of two men, members of Clarke’s own family, hanged for murder in 1949
207 pages / Finished books available
• One of the Toronto Star’s Best Reads for 2005 • Longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
PRAISE FOR GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE’S GEORGE & RUE “A lot like Faulkner… the novel sweeps you up in its narrative color and its lavish tongue and then, with stately force comes together into a solid crime story.” — O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE “Vivid, raw… wonderfully descriptive writing.” — USA TODAY photo by: Harvard University Department of English “This is a profoundly insightful, stark, fictional account of two desperate RIGHTS SOLD black men whose fruitless lives reflect the consequences of bigotry and Canada: HarperFlamingo, intolerance.” 2005 — LIBRARY JOURNAL UK: Random/Harvill, 2005 “A powerful debut, with a visceral understanding of pain and anger.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “Sparkling, powerfully inventive prose.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Rough, uncompromising and ultimately heartbreaking.” — THE TIMES, UK
fiction 11 LIAM DURCAN The Measure of Darkness 73,000 words / Final manuscript now available
The Measure of Darkness is the story of two brothers, Martin and Brendan Fallon, who have been estranged for years and have now suddenly been reunited in the aftermath of a car accident that has left Martin with a brain injury . The injury causes Martin to experience a disorder called “neglect”—he can’t appreciate half his visual world, and is unaware of his deficits . He tries to maintain control of his personal and professional life but the disorder, with the limited insight it brings, wreaks havoc . It is also a metaphor for the types of blindness he experiences in other aspects of his life . At the centre of the novel is a mystery: why was Martin parked on a rural road in a snowstorm when he was hit by a snow plow?
PRAISE FOR LIAM DURCAN’S GARCIA’S HEART “Durcan’s outstanding debut novel walks… a taut line between skillful RIGHTS SOLD thriller and philosophical novel of ideas. [H]e already writes with North America: an ease reminiscent of Graham Greene. Durcan crafts a character Bellevue Literary Press, whose background in neurology and medicine—Durcan is himself a March 15, 2016 neurologist—deftly informs the action…. As the plot unfolds, the novel takes on a breathtaking immediacy that will awe readers.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL “What prompts an honorable man to commit unspeakable acts? That’s one of many moral conundrums considered in Durcan’s compelling debut. … Durcan renders satisfyingly complex characters in sharp, vivid prose. García’s Heart beats with a riveting blend of science and suspense, perfect for fans of David Baldacci.” — BOOKLIST, starred review “[An] audacious literary debut…. The author’s shrewd, intricate debut reveals a multitalented artist. A fascinating construct.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “Durcan is a master at identifying and explicating the grey areas of life—the part where most life takes place. [It] is impossible not to be drawn into the consideration of morality, on both an individual and photo by: Redstone Photography societal scale. Long after the last page is read, García’s Heart will be firmly lodged in both the heart and mind.” — THE VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST “Durcan doesn’t offer any easy answers in this searching, meticulously observed novel of moral complexity. He does offer plenty to think about.” — THE TORONTO STAR “Durcan takes us right into the nub of the neuroscientific conception of the self. You must read this book.” — THE GLOBE AND MAIL
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García’s Heart Bringing together the central issues of our day, from terrorism to bioethics, García’s Heart is a fast-paced literary thriller that skillfully blends the science of neurology with the intricacies of criminal culpability.
378 pages / Finished books available
• Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, 2008 • A Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Spring 2008
Neurologist Patrick Lazerenko travels to The Hague to witness the war crimes trial of his beloved mentor, a Honduran doctor accused of involvement in torture in his native land . In order to do so, Lazerenko has abandoned his responsibilities as lead scientist in a cutting-edge research project at his Boston-based start-up, RIGHTS SOLD Neuronaut . He is driven to get to the root of the shocking accusations against Dr . Hernan García de la Cruz, the man whose life he had US: Thomas Dunne Books, modelled his own upon . 2007 García’s Heart goes beyond issues of guilt and innocence to the Canada: McClelland & ways in which human behaviour may or may not be mitigated by Stewart, 2007 physiology . Can we really tell where the truth lies by observing the Netherlands: Ailantus human brain? Should such observations absolve us of responsibility Italy: L’Ancora del for our actions, or be admissible in a court of law? Or does nothing Mediterraneano matter except the way we are perceived by others, like the endless Complex Chinese: Sun torture victims who are testifying against García? And is a doctor’s Color Culture Publishing supposedly altruistic desire to help others anything but an expression Simplified Chinese: Beijing of egotism? Booky Company
PRAISE FOR LIAM DURCAN’S GARCIA’S HEART “Neurologist Durcan dissects the ethics involved when politics, medicine and violence collide in this finely wrought novel.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Durcan’s language is sculpted with seemingly effortless precision. His sentences are rich with detail and metaphor, luxurious with reference and allusion, but also lean and raw, getting straight to the point of what he wants to describe. And what he wants to describe is no simple matter: it is the struggle among conflicting feelings, impressions, beliefs and realities when good people try to understand one another despite the pain they have inadvertently inflicted on each other and on themselves. Durcan gets it. He gets the humiliation of losing one’s will in the face of rejection, the anxiety that erodes understanding, the hope that keeps us straining for self-knowledge. He gets it and he tells it beautifully, powerfully, both softly and savagely, in language that courses with intelligence.” — THE LITERARY REVIEW OF CANADA
fiction 13 COLIN ELLARD Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life Places of the Heart explores the relationship between emotion and place by revealing the ways in which different kinds of places elicit specific feelings 90,000 words / Final books now available Psychogeography explores how our surroundings influence our emotions . Each chapter of Places of the Heart shows us how one type of space affects us emotionally, and how modern technology is altering this interaction . PRAISE FOR COLIN ELLARD’S PLACES OF THE HEART “Richly insightful.” – NATURE MAGAZINE “If you care about your city and your happiness, read every page of this fascinating book. Places of the Heart offers a thrilling journey through the pathways of our cities and the human mind. This is no flight of fancy. RIGHTS SOLD It’s an evidence-based exploration of how the places we inhabit change North America: Bellevue our minds and bodies. Colin Ellard is one of the world’s foremost thinkers Literary Press, Fall 2015 on the neuroscience of urban design. Here he offers an entirely new way Korea: Gilbut Publishing to understand our cities—and ourselves.” Company — CHARLES MONTGOMERY, AUTHOR OF HAPPY CITY Germany: Btb China: Jiangsu Education “This beautifully written book grabs the reader from the start, with Publishing personal stories from the author’s life interwoven with history, Russia: Alpina archeology, technology, and design.” Latin American Spanish: — ESTHER M. STERNBERG M.D., AUTHOR OF HEALING SPACES Ediciones B Mexico Spain: Ariel You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon but Get Lost in the Mall Colin Ellard does for physical space what Nasim Taleb did for randomness and Tom Vanderbilt did for traffic: he illuminates what science says about our spatial intelligence and how it shapes our connections to buildings, cities, cyberspace, and nature 328 pages / Finished books available We’ve all been there: wandering around a multi-storied parking garage searching for our car or wondering which direction we’re facing when we emerge from the subway . Yet our dogs remember exactly where they buried a chew toy three summers ago and ants in the Sahara find their way home after travelling a distance equivalent to a marathon . In You Are Here, Colin Ellard explains the human proclivity for getting lost, comparing our ability to process physical space to the photo by: Diana Fleming far-superior skills of animals normally considered less intelligent than Visit Colin online at our own species . Ellard describes the mental maps we develop to www.colinellard.com ease everyday navigation, whether it’s noting a striking landmark or leaving a virtual trail of crumbs to find our way through the woods .
14 non-fiction: popular science
Travelling through natural, man-made, and even cyberenvironments, he offers sage and often amusing insights into the spatial design of everything from office cubicles and family rooms to malls and casinos, explaining why so many spaces fail so spectacularly . From entertaining anecdotes to eye-opening facts to advice on how we can become environmentally responsible citizens, You Are Here provides a valuable perspective on the world and our place in it .
PRAISE FOR COLIN ELLARD’S YOU ARE HERE “[A] smart, deeply satisfying exploration of how creatures from insects to humans handle the complexities of physical space … his message is well-reasoned and important.” — THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER “You Are Here provides a colorful, well-charted atlas of our subjective mental maps—visual stories that we tell ourselves—and an impassioned argument for finding our true place in the world we inhabit.” — TOM VANDERBILT, AUTHOR OF TRAFFIC: WHY WE DRIVE RIGHTS SOLD THE WAY WE DO (AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT US), US: Doubleday, 2009 AMAZON.COM REVIEW Canada: HarperCollins, 2009 “One of the finest science writers I’ve ever read … It’s fun, pure fun.” Taiwan: Locus Japan: Hayakawa — THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Simplified Chinese: CITIC “Delightfully lucid … Ellard has a knack for distilling obscure scientific Press theories into practical wisdom.” World French: Editions — THE NEW YORK TIMES du Seuil “Ellard writes with admirable clarity … An anecdotally rich provocation in service of environmental awareness.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “[A] fascinating and exhaustive rundown of the processes involved in keeping us and other animals moving in the right direction … an absorbing read.” — THE GLOBE AND MAIL “Delightful, dense and illuminating.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Colin Ellard’s new book, You Are Here, is a powerful inquiry into how we humans orient ourselves in space and identify places both familiar and new. As an architect, and someone who loves the experiential qualities of three dimensional space, this book took me on a journey to places I’d never even considered before—such as how other creatures on this planet orient themselves, and why it is that our prodigious brain can invent worlds that far outstrip the abilities of our more primitive orienting sensory apparatus. It’s a stimulating and provocative read for anyone who’s looking for a better understanding of how we process the world around us and orient ourselves within our habitations and living environments.” — SARAH SUSANKA, AUTHOR OF THE NOT SO BIG HOUSE
non-fiction: popular science 15 ALIX HAWLEY All True Not a Lie in It Hawley does for iconic American pioneer Daniel Boone what Hilary Mantel did for Cromwell and Peter Carey did for Ned Kelly 90,000 words / Finished books available • Winner of the 2015 Amazon.ca First Novel Award • Longlisted for the Giller Prize
PRAISE FOR ALIX HAWLEY’S ALL TRUE NOT A LIE IN IT “Alix Hawley’s resurrection of the great woodsman, Daniel Boone, is astonishingly, uncannily vivid. Lightly stitched to the sparse historical record, this is not a picture of the frontier itself so much as the restless spirits of exploration, love, memory, and greed that drove Boone—‘the white Indian’—west through the wilderness. His voice cracks like a musket shot across these pages. An amazing debut.” — REGINA MARLER, LITERARY CRITIC AND BOOK REVIEWER RIGHTS SOLD Canada: Knopf, February “Alix Hawley has really done a number on an American folk hero. With 2015 vivid imagery and a strong, dreamlike voice, she confidently strips away US: Ecco/HarperCollins, the myth of Daniel Boone to reveal the strange, pulsing man underneath. August 2016 It is a remarkable feat and a remarkable book.” — TRACY CHEVALIER, AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING “An extraordinary feat of backwoods ventriloquism, carried off with great flair and conviction, across the boundaries of custom, time and gender. Alix Hawley invests afresh in the voice of Daniel Boone and his tough familiars, bringing shock and sensuality, but also surprising tenderness, to the famously rugged frontier myth.” — RICHARD HOLMES, AUTHOR OF THE AGE OF WONDER “Alix Hawley’s debut novel is audacious and bold, like an early Ondaatje, with writing that is luscious, lyrical, and bloodthirsty. Like Hawley’s narrator, Daniel Boone, All True Not a Lie in It, constantly seeks out new ground, wrapping the reader in a landscape of language and dream.” — ALEXI ZENTNER, AUTHOR OF TOUCH “Hawley’s skills are impressive indeed. In her hands, Boone comes to life in a way that even long-time aficionados will find surprising and photo: Courtesy of the author affecting…. Hawley’s Boone is a hero for these times, and All True Not Visit Alix online at A Lie In It is a powerful reminder of the fact behind the legend, of how www.alixhawley.com fiction can arrive at fundamental, troubling human truths.” – THE VANCOUVER SUN “Atmospheric and beautifully written … the story retains an insistent allure.” — THE TORONTO STAR “Hawley’s ability to convey the menace of paradise is overwhelming, as well as her ability to make the reader share in the sorrows of her hero.” — THE NATIONAL POST
16 fiction YASUKO THANH The Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains A haunting historical novel set in little-known French Indochina
70,500 words / First page proofs now available
A doctor brews a potion from the datura flower with the aim of poisoning soldiers in the French garrison in Saigon . Based on the real-life Hanoi Poisoning Plot of 1908, this novel tells a story that crosses the landscape of Vietnam when the doctor is forced to flee . The characters include a fish-girl pulled from the Mekong River— in a superstition-rich land, this is an omen; a diplomat’s son, a poet with one green eye; a rich revolutionary who detests his inheritance money, and a pregnant wife who keeps a menagerie of pigeons, cats, and a boa constrictor . The stories in this novel are Yasuko’s family’s stories . Falling RIGHTS SOLD somewhere between Kiran Desai’s Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, Canada: Hamish Hamilton/ Edith Wharton’s Ethan Fromme, and The End of the Alphabet by C .S . Penguin, April 5, 2016 Richardson, The Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains offers Romania: Editura RAO a poetic, fantastic, darkly comic look at the cost of insurrection as well as the complications of falling in love at a time when historical conditions complicate it .
PRAISE FOR YASUKO THANH’S STORY COLLECTION FLOATING LIKE THE DEAD “Her empathy for a variety of characters in crisis—from a German nanny choosing a husband to a betrayed Vietnamese wife—is impressive, as is her talent for reimagining little-known historical periods. Together, these qualities combine to make Floating Like the Dead an impressive debut.” — THE MONTREAL GAZETTE “Using artfully simple language, Thanh has crafted a story of powerfully resonant emotion with tremendous restraint—a gift that respects both her characters and her readers.” — JOURNEY PRIZE JURY CITATION
“A prizewinner well before the publication of her first book, Yasuko photo by: Anastasia Andrews Thanh impresses above all with the thematic complexity of her approach. Coupling a globetrotter’s perspective and historical curiosity to that, her RIGHTS SOLD stories conjure vignettes of troubling existence, where change is possible Canada: McClelland & but outcomes deviate far from plans.” Stewart, 2012 — THE VANCOUVER SUN Visit Yasuko online at “Yasuko Thanh writes with a tiger’s eye for detail, her sentences haunt, www.yasukothanh.com images flash like lightning. She is a major talent.” — WAYSON CHOY, AUTHOR OF THE JADE PEONY
fiction 17 LORI LANSENS The Mountain Story A whopping great adventure tale and an epic family drama in the mould of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden
97,000 words / Finished books available
PRAISE FOR LORI LANSENS’ THE MOUNTAIN STORY “The Mountain Story is an expertly crafted novel about how ordinary lives can be changed by an extraordinary mountain. If climbing speaks to how we can find truth and beauty in hardship, Lansens shows that it is also a way to see inside our souls. I loved this novel.” — CLAIRE CAMERON, AUTHOR OF THE BEAR A “heart-stoppingly suspenseful tale…. A moving portrait of the human spirit—as fierce, lovely and indomitable as nature itself.” – PEOPLE MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE WEEK “It’s a master class in fiction and its potential.” RIGHTS SOLD – THE GLOBE AND MAIL US: Simon & Schuster, “Right from its opening pages, The Mountain Story has you firmly June 2015 in its grip. Immensely readable, beautifully written and incredibly Canada: Knopf, April 2015 heart-breaking…it’s an extraordinary story of survival, heroism and UK: Simon & Schuster, redemption that will stay with you long after you read the last page.” May 2015 – ASSOCIATED PRESS, UK Norway: Juritzen Forlag Israel: Keter Books A “suspenseful, psychologically rich tale.” Netherlands: The House – BOOKLIST of Books “Written with breathtaking pace, tingling with suspense, leavened by Brazil: Bertrand humour and high on emotion and drama, The Mountain Story is one of US Large Print: Center Point the most memorable and moving novels you will read this year.” French: Denoel – THE BLACKPOOL GAZETTE, UK French Canada: Alto “An intelligent page turner.” – THE BOOKBAG, UK “A read as awe-inspiring, unpredictable and raw as the landscape it is set in. The novel is brilliantly atmospheric and evocative.…” – WE LOVE THIS BOOK, UK “Lansens (The Girls) has written a colorful, adventurous wilderness survival novel…. [a] first-rate character-driven thriller.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Her newest offering is more than just a survival tale. It is a story of friendship and loss, but also of growth and hope, and of family bonds that can either tie us down or help us soar. A great read for anyone who likes character-driven, coming-of-age stories with exquisitely described natural settings.” – LIBRARY JOURNAL photo by: Laura Starks Visit Lori online at www.lorilansens.com
18 fiction
The Wife’s Tale With sharp humour and delicate grace, The Wife’s Tale follows Mary Gooch—morbidly obese and living in denial— as she pursues her husband across the country 353 pages / Finished books available • A New York Times Editor’s Choice, April 2010 • A More Magazine Best Book of the Month, February 2010 • An Amazon Best Read of the Month, August 2009
PRAISE FOR LORI LANSENS’ THE WIFE’S TALE “Sensitive but deliciously comic…. Lansens has more than a few tales worth telling.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES “Lansens’ portrait of a woman who hides behind the Kenmore as protection from life’s heartache is earthy and primal in its pain. Yet Lansens doesn’t resort to an overnight makeover to save Mary. Instead, RIGHTS SOLD our heroine uncovers a hidden strength she had all along. Those who loved US: Little, Brown & Co., The Girls will be pleased that Lansens is back. Highly recommended.” 2010 – LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred review UK: Virago, 2010 Canada: Knopf, 2009 “Lansens’ clear prose unveils the connection between a body weighed down by flesh and a spirit smothered by loneliness. Mary’s odyssey of Italy: Mondadori heartache and hope is not so much about finding her husband as it is Netherlands: De Bezige Bij about rediscovering herself.” Brazil (Portuguese): – PEOPLE Bertrand Brasil French-Canada: Editions “[Mary is] a wonderful character, and Lansens’ handling of her eventual Alto transformation into someone capable of compassion and acceptance is US Audio: Brilliance Audio handled with a light but assured touch.” Poland: W.A.B. – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY US Large Print: Center Point Publishers “Lori Lansens, best-selling author of The Girls, structures The Wife’s Turkey: Artemis Yayinlari Tale as the story of a damaged heroine on a quest. The trick is that (as in any good quest story) the real object of the search isn’t what Norway: Juritzen Forlag the searcher thinks it is. … [A] fast-moving story and Mary’s gradual French world rights (excl. metamorphosis… rings true.” Canada): Editions l’Archipel – BOOKPAGE Film: Les Films Outsiders “Lansens writes with acute insight… fully immersing readers in her Inc. protagonist’s struggle to find a new and better self.” – BOOKLIST “Like short-story queen Alice Munro, to whom she is often compared, Lansens demonstrates a singular gift for discerning both the ordinary and the extraordinary in small-town life and small-town people.” – WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
fiction 19 LORI LANSENS (continued) The Girls The fictional autobiography of conjoined twins, Rose and Ruby Darlen—a breathtaking novel about the profound and transcendent love between two extraordinary sisters
343 pages / Finished books available
• A 2007 Richard & Judy Book Club selection • A New York Times Editor’s Choice, 2006 • A Wall Street Journal Summer Reads Pick for 2006 • The #1 Booksense Pick for May 2006
The Girls charts the depths of a miraculous friendship, unsettling and beautiful in its closeness . As the two stories parallel, diverge, and intertwine, building to an unforgettable conclusion, Lansens aims at the heart of human experience and the fundamental joy of connection . RIGHTS SOLD PRAISE FOR THE GIRLS World rights excl. Canada: “I promise: you will never forget this extraordinary story… Lori Lansens’ Little, Brown & Co., 2006 blend of tragedy and comedy will touch you deeply.” Canada: Knopf, 2005 — ISABEL ALLENDE Italy: Mondadori “A tale of kindness, love, and the off things life throws at us, no matter UK: Virago our circumstances… The backdrop of sisters who share an essential Netherlands: De Bezige Bij brain vein offers complications that give the story special meaning, Israel: Modan Publishers but Lansens’ writing is so haunting and filled with the ache of dreams Turkey: Sistem unrealized, the characters seem just like everyone else… Make sure, by Germany: Ullstein the end, you have plenty of tissues handy.” Poland: MAG — USA TODAY Brazil: Editora Globo “An engagingly perverse novel about twins conjoined spiritually as well Taiwan: Commonwealth as physically.” Sweden: Bra Bocker — THE NEW YORK TIMES Serbia: Beobooks “The Girls, by Lori Lansens, is a ballad, a melancholy song of two very Czech: BB Art strange, enchanted girls who live out their peculiar, ordinary lives in a Portugal: Casa Das Letras rural corner of Canada…. The Girls glides by like a watercolor dream, Lithuania: Alma Littera finding its poetry in dailiness and the universalities of human desire and France: Editions l’Archipel connection…. Lansens, who has a gentle, open way of writing, makes of Mainland China: Shanghai these two girls a kind of perfect marriage, harmonious and everlasting.” Century Publishing — THE NEW YORK TIMES Norway: Juritzen Forlag France (Book Club): France “[The Girls] is an immensely readable novel, compelling and convincing Loisirs …. [A]n enchanting blend of the extraordinary and the everyday.” French Canada: Editions — THE NEW STATESMAN Alto “Now and then a book comes along that you want to savor—every phrase, every nuance, every little moment, you want to carry with you long after you’ve closed the cover. So it is with The Girls. … As much as you want Rose and Ruby’s story to continue, you know it can’t. But these unforgettable characters will live on outside the pages of this book.” — THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
20 fiction
Rush Home Road The untold story of the descendants of the Underground Railroad
547 pages / Finished books available
• Shortlisted for the Regional Commonwealth Book Prize, 2003 • Shortlisted for the Rogers Fiction Prize, 2002 • A Globe and Mail Notable Book of the Year, 2002 • A Canadian bestseller
Heartbreaking and wise, Rush Home Road tells the life story of Adelaide Shadd and Sharla, a five-year-old mixed race girl abandoned to Addy’s care by her white mother .
PRAISE FOR RUSH HOME ROAD “The story’s beauty is in its simplicity. Told coldly, without pretension, it RIGHTS SOLD reveals Lansens as an honest writer with a convincing knowledge of her World excl. Canada: Little, characters and chosen period. She takes racism, love, hate, violence, and Brown & Co., 2002 forgiveness in her stride.” UK: Virago, 2002 — SUNDAY EXPRESS, UK Canada: Knopf, 2002 “Rush Home Road, the story of a 70-year-old woman’s journey through France: Belfond the nearly unbearable sorrows of her past, in order to save an abandoned Sweden: Bonnier little girl, is a first novel of exquisite power, honesty, and conviction. Its Netherlands: De Bezige Bij portrait of how much has changed, and how little, over nearly a century, Denmark: Lademann in the realms of race, love, hate, and loss, is quite nearly without flaws.” Germany: Ullstein — JACQUELYN MITCHARD, AUTHOR OF THE DEEP END Greece: Oceanida OF THE OCEAN AND A THEORY OF RELATIVITY Italy: Mondadori “A poignant novel about the power of love and forgiveness.” Israel: Modan Publishers — BOOKLIST Norway: Juritzen Forlag Finland: Bazar Publishers “To read Lansens’ Rush Home Road is to read Alice Munro’s Lives of Turkey: Bu Yayinevi Girls and Women coupled with Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel, Spain: Circulo de Lectores but as if both novels had been penned by Toni Morrison…. Lansens is a brilliant talent, with a profound, big-hearted comprehension of human flaws and humane possibilities.” — THE GLOBE AND MAIL “Those two people [Addy and Sharla] are powerful creations who will grab even reluctant readers and hold them until the end, showing that you not only can go home again but you can also go triumphant.” — NASHVILLE CITY PAPER “A book with the power to captivate.” — THE IRISH TATLER “A stunning debut novel.” — SUNDAY EXPRESS, UK
fiction 21 Selected Backlist ANITA RAU BADAMI Tell It to the Trees A beloved, bestselling writer returns to the domestic canvas of her award-winning books, Tamarind Woman and The Hero’s Walk, with a tense mystery and heart-rending story of family life set in an Indian household in a small northern town
255 pages / Finished books available
A dead body is found frozen in the backyard of the Dharma family’s house . It’s the body of their tenant, Anu Krishnan . Why had she been foolish enough to go out into the blizzard? From this gripping opening, Anita Rau Badami threads a story of love and need, and of chilling secrets never told aloud .
PRAISE FOR ANITA RAU BADAMI’S TELL IT TO THE TREES “Badami is deft at building and particularizing those characters RIGHTS SOLD fortunate enough to have a voice in her tale.” Canada: Knopf, 2011 — THE GLOBE AND MAIL Italy: Edizioni Piemme “Anita Rau Badami’s Tell It to the Trees is about family secrets and the things you do in order to keep both secrets and family. The intensity of the narrative ebbs and flows and creeps—it would be a perfect psychological thriller if it wasn’t so very sad.” — HELEN OYEYEMI, AUTHOR OF MR.FOX “A riveting read.” — TORONTO SUN “Part literary whodunit, part psychological drama, Tell It to the Trees is all about solitude and secrets—and how the two can combine to hold a family together; and, at the same time, tear it apart.” — THE GAZETTE “At first it is a howdunnit, later a whodunnit, but the art of the piece is in
the whydunnit.” photo by: Richard-Max Tremblay — THE WINNIPEG REVIEW Visit Anita’s website at “A chilling, cautionary tale at what happens when a family isolates itself www.anitaraubadami.ca against the rest of the world.” — THE EDMONTON JOURNAL
22 fiction
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? A novel that traces the epic trajectory of terrorism through time and space in the lives of women connected to the 1982 Air India Disaster
410 pages / Finished books available
• Longlisted for the 2008 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award • Shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association 2007 Evergreen Awards
RIGHTS SOLD Canada: Knopf, 2006 Netherlands: India: Penguin, 2007 France: Editions De Geus, 2008 Australia: Scribe Philippe Rey, 2007 Italy: Marsilio, 2008 Publications, 2007 The Hero’s Walk When an orphaned North American granddaughter returns to her grandparents in India, the family must cope with clashing cultures
359 pages / Finished books available
RIGHTS SOLD US: Algonquin Books Spain: Ediciones Greece: Kastaniotis US: Paperback: Bronce Poland: Dialog Ballantine Catalan: Columna Portugal: Difel UK: Bloomsbury Edicions Italy: Marsilio France: Stock Canada: Knopf Netherlands: De Geus
Tamarind Woman (also published as Tamarind Mem) A touching portrait of the relationship between two generations of women on two continents
266 pages / Finished books available
• A WH Smith Travel Read-of-the-Week, UK
RIGHTS SOLD UK: Bloomsbury, India: Penguin US: Algonquin Books, 2002 Germany: 2002 France: Editions Bertelsmann Canada: Knopf Philippe Rey Serbia: Monoimanjana
fiction 23 JUDY FONG BATES The Year of Finding Memory: A Memoir A probing memoir about a daughter’s search to understand remarkable and terrible truths about her parents’ past
293 pages / Finished books available
PRAISE FOR JUDY FONG BATES’ THE YEAR OF FINDING MEMORY “This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching memoir. Fong Bates shifts masterfully between various times and places, from her mother’s arrival in Vancouver by propeller plane in 1955 to her family’s return to China more than 50 years later. She confronts her own prejudices, finally realizing that the years she spent with her unhappy parents were in fact a gift from two people who had suffered greatly.” — QUILL & QUIRE, starred review RIGHTS SOLD “With the elegant brush strokes of a miniaturist, Judy Fong Bates Canada: Random House, constructs, out of the debris of her family’s past, a poignant understanding 2010 of both her own ancestry and the passage we must all take to comprehend ourselves. The Year of Finding Memory is an engrossing account of that journey, which seeks, in the end, happiness and peace.” — SHYAM SELVADURAI, AUTHOR OF FUNNY BOY “The Year of Finding Memory is the most accurate and heartfelt account that I’ve ever read of what it’s like to explore the Chinese countryside in search of your roots. Judy Fong Bates captures the beauty of the villages, the sense of returning home to a place you’ve never been, the heartache, joy, understanding and longing, and that very real there-but-for-the- grace-of-God emotion that you experience in meeting your relatives who were left behind. Beautiful!” — LISA SEE, AUTHOR OF SHANGHAI GIRLS AND PEONY IN LOVE “With admirable heart, Judy Fong Bates portrays the ever-present desire to make sense of our origins. She conjures unforgettable images of a
childhood on two continents, and of two unhappy parents, who, even after photo by: Michael Bates the last page, we long to know, if only fleetingly, found love between them.” Visit Judy online at — DENISE CHONG, www.judyfongbates.com AUTHOR OF THE CONCUBINE’S CHILDREN
24 non-fiction: memoir
Midnight at the Dragon Café The life of a young Chinese girl is torn apart by dark family secrets and divided loyalties in a small Ontario town in the 1950s
315 pages / Finished books available • The 2007 “One Community, One Book” selection for Portland, Oregon • Winner of a 2006 Alex Award from the American Library Association • An American Library Association Notable Book for 2006
PRAISE FOR JUDY FONG BATES’ MIDNIGHT AT THE DRAGON CAFÉ “In deceptively simple, intimate prose, Judy Fong Bates captures the complexities of a childhood filled with secrets, longing, and superstition, and powerfully exposes the lengths to which families will go to survive. Midnight at the Dragon Café is an original, haunting debut novel.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred review RIGHTS SOLD “The mounting suspense of family secrets makes this first novel a US: Counterpoint Press, breathless read, even as the simple, beautiful words make you want to 2005 stop and read the sentences over and over again.” Canada: McClelland & — BOOKLIST, starred review Stewart, 2004 “Bates writes in clean, understated prose, imbuing her characters with Thailand: Sanskrit Books a lasting poignancy.” Mainland China: Nankai — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY University Press of Tianjin China Dog and Other Stories from the Chinese Laundry Vivid, richly textured, wryly funny—a collection of linked stories about a host of Chinese immigrants from the turn of the century to the present 148 pages / Finished books available • A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Fall 2002
PRAISE FOR JUDY FONG BATES’ CHINA DOG AND OTHER STORIES “[Bates] is able to capture the reader with poignant details of physical surroundings … and conversational styles, making these stories vivid and memorable…. Bates’ stories will have wide appeal to American readers and will inspire Chinese immigrants, old and new, as well as their children…. The book will also transcend cultural barriers, striking a common chord with people of other ethnic groups who have followed similar routes to this new country we call home.” RIGHTS SOLD — THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE US: Counterpoint Press, “An exemplary collection. As in Margaret Laurence’s superb collection 2002 A Bird in the House, Bates’s deceptively simple narratives expose the Canada: McClelland & hopes and hardships that define her characters’ lives.” Stewart, 2005 — THE GLOBE AND MAIL
fiction 25 WAYSON CHOY FICTION The Jade Peony Chinatown, Vancouver, in the early 1940s provides the backdrop for this fresh, uplifting novel, told through the reminiscences of the three young children
238 pages / Finished books available
• Winner of the 1995 Trillium Prize • Winner of the 1995 City of Vancouver Book Award • Named one of the 100 Most Important Books in Canadian History • An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year 1998
PRAISE FOR WAYSON CHOY’S FICTION “In China, [Choy] tells us, a figure called the ‘dark storyteller’ reveals ‘hidden things not seen in the glare of daylight.’ Working in a new RIGHTS SOLD country and a new context, Wayson Choy has deftly continued that US: Other Press, 2007 tradition [in] a fine… novel.” Canada: Douglas & McIntyre Australia & New Zealand: Penguin — THE NEW YORK TIMES Germany: Ullstein “[This] is a sweet and funny novel and accomplishes so much of what we France: Les Editions XYZ expect in good fiction. Certainly, the novel delights us with beautifully Netherlands: De Vliegende Hollander written prose, but it does more than that, too. It renders a complex and Mainland China: Nankai University complete human world, which… we have learned to love.” Press of Tianjin — BOSTON BOOK REVIEW “Choy’s graceful writing seems to conjure up the very spirit of a quiet child who notices all … a master storyteller.” — THE SEATTLE TIMES All That Matters Growing up in Vancouver’s Chinatown during the 1930s and 1940s, Kiam Chen is caught in a tangle of mixed loyalties. As first son, he is trapped between the old China ways and a world that is rapidly changing.
423 pages / Finished books available
• Winner of the 2004 Trillium Prize • Shortlisted for the 2004 Giller Prize • Longlisted for the 2006 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award • A national bestseller
RIGHTS SOLD US: Other Press, 2007 Australia & New Zealand: French Canada: Les Editions Canada: Doubleday, 2004 Penguin, 2005 XYZ, 2012
26 fiction
MEMOIRS Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood Three weeks before his fifty-seventh birthday, Wayson Choy received a surprising phone call: a mysterious woman told him that he had been adopted. A beautifully wrought memoir, Paper Shadows reveals the inner workings of Vancouver’s Chinatown in the 1930s.
342 pages / Black-and-white photographs throughout / Finished books available
• Shortlisted for the 1999 Governor General’s Award • Shortlisted for the inaugural Drainie-Taylor Prize, 1999 • A 1999 Globe and Mail Notable Book of the Year • A national bestseller RIGHTS SOLD • Winner of the Edna Staebler Creative Non-Fiction Award, 2000 US: Picador Canada: Penguin Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Australia: Penguin Almost Dying Framed by Wayson Choy’s two brushes with death, Not Yet is an intimate and insightful study of one man’s reasons for living.
190 pages / Finished books available • A national bestseller • A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2009
In 2001, Choy suffered a combined asthma-heart attack . As he lay in his hospital bed, slipping in and out of consciousness, his days punctuated by the beeps of the machines that were keeping him alive, Choy heard the voices of his ancestors warning him that without a wife he would one day die alone . And yet through his ordeal Choy was never alone .
PRAISE FOR WAYSON CHOY’S NOT YET: A MEMOIR “Illness and recovery are sensitively and sensuously rendered, with candour, humour and authenticity. … It is a pleasure to have his RIGHTS SOLD continuing presence (haunted, though it is by the weight of the past and his own physical frailties) in our community of storytellers.” Canada: Doubleday, 2009 Australia & New Zealand: Scribe — THE GLOBE AND MAIL Publications “Not Yet is a powerful work, an account of a life almost lost, a questioning Croatia: Naklada Ljevak of how a life should be lived, and an inquiry into the role of the past and its French Canada: Les Editions XYZ, impact on the present. It is a chronicle of finding oneself after the deepest 2012 of traumas, in the arms and eyes of friends. It is a work that blends tension and sadness with joy and contemplation. And it is a reminder, as if we needed one, of why Wayson Choy is beloved, as a writer and as a man.” — THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
non-fiction: memoir 27 CECIL FOSTER Independence A moving portrait of a journey to adulthood and the women who guide it 328 pages / Finished books available Independence is the touching story of the coming-of-age of a country and two teenagers in it, at the time of Barbados’ independence from Britain in 1966 . Fourteen-year-old Christopher Lucas and Stephanie King have been neighbours and best friends since they were born a few months apart . They have been raised by their impoverished grandmothers after their mothers went “over ’n’ away” to the USA and Canada to find work . The grandmothers are growing desperate about their ability to support their charges . When the novel opens, there is a sudden and unexplained rift between Christopher and Stephanie following the return from Canada of a benefactor named Mr . Lashley, who lavishes gifts on Stephanie . RIGHTS SOLD PRAISE FOR CECIL FOSTER’S INDEPENDENCE Canada: HarperCollins, 2014 “Independence is a richly detailed novel, offering a vivid portrait of a Bajan society in flux.” — QUILL & QUIRE “[Foster’s] glorious new novel, by far his best effort to date, outshining even his memorable debut … This is a wonderful book, hopefully destined for wide readership and endless love.” — THE NATIONAL POST “Foster’s story of a West Indies community in transition is a marvelous read, filled with humour, sorrow, and wit, and told with the deft and gentle touch of a master storyteller.” — THOMAS KING, AUTHOR OF THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN Visit Cecil online at www.cecilfoster.ca
No Man in the House photo by: Lisa Sakulensky The touching tale of boys whose parents have abandoned them RIGHTS SOLD 217 pages / Finished books available US: Ballantine, 1992 PRAISE FOR CECIL FOSTER’S NO MAN IN THE HOUSE Canada: Random House, 1991 “He shows the brave characters of West Indian women as no one else has.” — E. ANNIE PROULX, AUTHOR OF THE SHIPPING NEWS “A moving story, rich in detail, told with great sensitivity and affection.” ALSO AVAILABLE — NEW YORK NEWSDAY Dry Bone Memories Slammin’ Tar “[One] of those rare books that do indeed celebrate indomitable characters and the resilience of the human spirit…. A remarkable debut.” Island Wings: A Memoir — KIRKUS REVIEWS Sleep On, Beloved
28 fiction STEPHEN MILLER The Messenger An explosive and timely thriller that takes the reader into the mind of a terrorist
336 pages / Finished books available
Daria is a refugee from one of the many overcrowded, poverty-stricken refugee camps that dot the Middle East . She has been groomed for years by her terrorist handlers . She is a lustrous diamond, polished, educated at the finest schools and Westernized to wipe out any trace of her Middle Eastern heritage . She passes herself off as a cultured, dark-skinned Italian woman from an aristocratic Florentine family, all the while harboring a seething hatred of the West and everything it represents . The wars that claimed the lives of her brothers and her father feed her need for revenge—and revenge she will have . America will lie in waste at her feet . But soon she has a scientist on her trail who thinks he can put a stop to her lethal journey . He has RIGHTS SOLD long predicted that something like this would happen, and has been consistently ignored . Now is his chance to be vindicated . North America: Bantam, 2012 Israel: Kinneret PRAISE FOR STEPHEN MILLER’S THE MESSENGER Denmark: Forlaget Punktum “The Messenger is a fascinating shocker, thoroughly engaging, smart Spain: Editorial Viceversa and eerily plausible.” Serbia: Beoknjiga — BC BOOKWORLD Mainland China: Yilin Press “A chilling, heart-thumping, masterfully-written thriller. Stephen Miller Poland: Muza has created a complex anti-heroine in the character of Daria Vermiglio, Audio: Recorded Books a portrait of a bio-terrorist so well rendered that we can relate to her, understand her, and identify with her journey from complete conviction to regret for her actions once she meets some of her victims: the American poor.” — CARMEN AGUIRRE, AUTHOR OF SOMETHING FIERCE: MEMOIRS OF A REVOLUTIONARY DAUGHTER “A real snake-charmer of a tale, The Messenger doesn’t unfold, it uncoils. You can only stare, appalled and fascinated, unable to avert your eyes. A riveting read, from beginning to end. This is Cormack McCarthy territory. It goes way beyond its genre.” — JOHN MACLACHLAN GRAY, AUTHOR OF NOT QUITE DEAD “The Messenger, Stephen Miller’s first novel in five years and his best to date, brings us deeply into the psyches of two very different people on either side of the terror divide…. Their meeting is inevitable and shattering, the culmination of Miller’s slow boil of mounting dread
featuring people far too close to ourselves…. Miller delivers suspense photo by: Kevin Frederick Clark with the elegance of a French press.” — THE NATIONAL POST Visit Stephen online at www.stephenmillerwriter.com “The Messenger is a thriller that lets the reader see through the terrorist’s eyes. It’s a fascinating and terrifying read, mainly because it is within the realm of reason.” — THE OKLAHOMAN
fiction 29 FRANCES GREENSLADE Shelter A spellbinding and wise coming-of-age story, Shelter draws readers into the precarious world of two young sisters in search of their missing mother, and brings to life a breathtaking landscape
372 pages / Finished books available
• A 2012 Waterstones 11 Debut Novel • Shortlisted for the B.C. Book Prize for Fiction, 2012 • Shortlisted for the Evergreen Award, 2012
When a devoted mother disappears, her daughters set out to discover who she really was, besides being a mom . Shelter draws you into the world of two teenaged sisters whose mother has vanished into the wilderness of British Columbia . RIGHTS SOLD PRAISE FOR FRANCES GREENSLADE’S SHELTER US: Free Press, 2012 “Frances Greenslade’s stunning debut novel … a new voice has emerged Canada: Knopf, 2011 from the varied wilderness of the Canadian fiction scene which is as clear UK: Virago, 2012 as a glacier-fed stream and as compelling as that which tells a haunting Netherlands: Orlando story by the campfire.” Germany: Mare Verlag — THE SCOTSMAN German Paperback: Suhrkamp “The longing for a lost mother has rarely been expressed so soulfully. The yearning of these two vulnerable young sisters for their mother, who Italy: Keller Editore has disappeared, is palpable. I was entirely absorbed in their precarious situation and their desire to find her, yet aware that their mother’s gift was the resourcefulness they needed to survive. Greenslade is a fresh new voice that you are sure to hear again.” — BOBBIE ANN MASON, AUTHOR OF THE GIRL IN THE BLUE BERET “This book casts a strong spell. Greenslade depicts the battle between different types of love with harrowing intensity and quiet compassion. The landscape is so vividly rendered, it is a character all on its own, and sisters Maggie and Jenny are unforgettable in their resilience. Shelter shows us how wilderness can be a safer haven than a home with four walls, but also how love, despite its heartbreaking unpredictability, remains the shelter we desire most.” — JAMIE ZEPPA, AUTHOR OF BEYOND THE SKY AND THE EARTH: A JOURNEY INTO BHUTAN
AND EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE photo by: Stuart Bish Visit Frances online at www.francesgreenslade.com
30 fiction CLIENTS
Anita Rau Badami Valerie Fortney Monica Lin Morishita Jean Baird Cecil Foster Melanie Murray Judy Fong Bates Vicki Gabereau Susan Musgrave George Bowering Caitlin Galway Leilah Nadir Alan Bradley Paul Glennon Kathy Para Robert Calder Frances Greenslade Dawn Promislow Claire Cameron Alix Hawley Susanne Reber Silver Donald Cameron Davin de Kergommeaux Stephen Reid Warren Cariou Gitanjali Kolanad Rob Renaud Abigail Carter Frank Koller Eden Robinson Simon Choa-Johnston Dr. Meir Kryger Laura Robinson Wayson Choy Dr. David Kuhl Sandra Sabatini George Elliott Clarke Rekha Lakra Andreas Schroeder Ken Coates Lori Lansens Paul Seesequasis William Colgan Evelyn Lau Hiroko Shimizu Valerie Compton Pearl Luke David Stouck Afua Cooper Jeanette Lynes Theresa Tedesco Tanya Davis Aga Maksimowska Yasuko Thanh Darrell Dennis Robin Blackburn McBride Dr. Cathryn Tobin Pierre Desrochers Robert McGill Adria Vasil Andrea Dorfman Leo McKay Ian Williams Liam Durcan Stephen Miller Cathleen With Colin Ellard
clients 31 CO-AGENTS
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