foreign rights London Book Fair 2019 www.thegernertco.com fiction Karen Cleveland, KEEP YOU CLOSE From NYT bestselling author Karen Cleveland comes a new thriller about an FBI agent fighting to clear her son’s name Suspense Publisher: Ballantine (US) / Transworld (UK) – May 28, 2019 Editor: Kara Cesare / Sarah Adams Agent: David Gernert Material: 2nd pass pages Karen’s debut Need To Know was pre-empted by Ballantine for seven-figures with film rights to Universal (with Charlize Theron attached) • 31 foreign deals • Top 10 UK bestseller and hit bestseller lists in Spain, Germany and France Stephanie Maddox worKs her dream job policing power and exposing corruption within the FBI. Getting here has taKen her nearly two decades of hard worK, laser-focus, and personal sacrifices—the most important, she fears, being a close relationship with her teenage son, Zachary. A single parent, Steph’s missed a lot of school events, birthdays, and vacations with her boy—but the truth is, she would move heaven and earth for him, including protecting him from an explosive secret in her past. It just never occurred to her that Zachary would Keep secrets of his own. One day while straightening her son’s room, Steph is shaKen to discover a loaded gun hidden in his closet. Then comes a KnocK at her front door—a colleague on the domestic terrorism squad, who utters three devastating words: “It’s about Zachary.” PacKed with shocKing twists and intense family drama, Keep You Close is an electrifying exploration of the shattering consequences of the love that binds—and sometimes blinds—a mother and her child. Karen Cleveland is a former CIA analyst and the New York Times bestselling author of Need to Know. She has master's degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University. Cleveland lives in northern Virginia with her husband and children. • Option publishers: Columna (Catalan), Hr. Ferdinand (DenmarK), Obsidian (Bulgaria), VulKan (Serbia), Agave Konyvek (Hungary), FoKsal (Poland), Modan (Israel), RanoK (UKraine), Albatros (Czech), Albatros (Slovak), Sharp Point (Taiwan), Profil (Croatia), Ucila (Slovenia), RAO (Romania), Eesti Raamat (Estonia), Kontinents (Latvia), Ars Lamina (Macedonia), Dar Al Muna (Arabic) • Sold to: Transworld (UK & BC), BTB (Germany), DeA Planeta Libri (Italy), Planeta (World Spanish), Laffont (France), Bruna (Netherlands), Norstedts (Sweden), Gyldendal NorsK (Norway), Gummerus (Finland), Planeta (Portugal), Planeta (Brazil), China South BooKy (China), Epsilon (TurKey), HayaKawa (Japan) www.thegernertco.com 2 Juliet Grames, THE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEATHS OF STELLA FORTUNA A warm-hearted epic novel that lays bare the costs of migration and the iron fist of the patriarchy—but also of the love and devotion that can sustain a family through its generations. Upmarket women’s fiction Publisher: Ecco (US) / Hodder (UK&BC) – May 7, 2019 Editor: Megan Lynch Agent: Sarah Burnes Material: 2nd pass pages Sold in a major deal in the US to Ecco at auction • Harper Lead Read Pick for Summer 2019 • Auctions in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Russia • “This quintessential American immigrant story feels important right now, and I highly recommend it.” — Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan • “Juliet Grames has written a magnificent debut, creating a deeply felt, richly imagined world nbased upon her family history. The darK beauty of Calabria and the promise of America sets the stage for Stella’s volatile life.... Moody, original and profound.” —Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Tony’s Wife • “Reading The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is like listening to the rollicKing stories of your Italian grandmother— full of memorable characters and specKled with fascinating bits of history. This is a fantastic and timely family story.” —Jessica Shattuck, bestselling author of The Women in the Castle Mariastella Fortuna, Known as Stella, was born into rural poverty in a Calabrian village in the early 20th century. After being abandoned by their father, Stella grew up with her beloved mother Assunta, her brothers Giuseppe and Luigi and her sister Tina. Tough, vivacious, and fiercely loyal, the sisters were inseparable. Beginning with the time she was burned by frying oil, Assunta became convinced that her eldest daughter was cursed, but after Stella woKe up from 'The Accident', an eighth brush with death, it was Tina who she refused to speaK to. Now the sisters have not spoKen in thirty years. Determined to solve the mystery of this falling out, it's up to the family historian to connect the inexplicable dots in Stella's dramatic story, and to suggest, redemption of the battle-scarred and misunderstood woman who has lived her life with a fire inside her which could not be put out. Juliet Grames is Associate Publisher at Soho Press, where she also acquires and edits the critically acclaimed Soho Crime imprint. She has written for Words Without Borders and Anderbro, which published her story “Monologue,” winner of the Glass Woman Prize, runner-up for the OpenCity Trophy, and the South Million Writers Notable Story. • Sold to: Hodder (UK & BC), Droemer (Germany), Luitingh-Sijthoff (Netherlands), Eksmo (Russia), HarperCollins (Italy), Otwarte (Poland), Alianza de Novelas (World Spanish), Alma Littera (Lithuania), Presses de la Cité (France) www.thegernertco.com 3 Linda Holmes, EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER A heartfelt debut about an unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a professional athlete who’s lost his game. Women’s fiction Publisher: Ballantine (US) - 25 June 2019 | Hodder (UK & BC) - 27 June 2019 Editor: Sara Weiss Agent: Sarah Burnes Materials: Final pages Sold in a major deal to Ballantine • UK rights sold to Hodder • “Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic… Evvie Drake is great company.”—Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park • “A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own… an absolute delight.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo • “Deeply moving while simultaneously hilarious, Evvie Drake Starts Over is what happens when great writing, complex and charming characters, and a not-quite-what-you-expect ending collide.”—Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of Dreams of Falling In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” DraKe rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend Andy, thinks grief Keeps her locKed inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them. Meanwhile, in New YorK City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems liKe the perfect chance to hit the reset button on his future. A joyful, witty, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unliKely comebacKs of the year—and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes. Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio and the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which has also held sold-out live shows in New YorK, Los Angeles, Washington, and elsewhere. Evvie Drake Starts Over is her first novel. • Sold to: Hodder (UK & BC) www.thegernertco.com 4 Ann Leckie, THE RAVEN TOWER The first fantasy novel from the acclaimed NYT bestselling author of the Imperial Radch trilogy and PROVENANCE and the only author to win the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards in a single year. Fantasy Publisher: Orbit – February 26, 2019 Editor: PriyanKa Krishnan Agent: Seth Fishman Materials: Finished books More than 500,000 copies sold worldwide of Ann Leckie’s novels • 24 publishers of the Imperial Radch trilogy • “[The Raven Tower] is absolutely wonderful…utterly brilliant.” -- The New York Times • “Leckie’s tale takes on a mythic, metafictional quality...and the story’s elements weave into a stunning conclusion. This impressive piece of craftsmanship cements Leckie’s place as a powerful voice in both SF and fantasy."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review) • "I've been reading fantasy my whole life. After all these years, it's a delight to read something so different, so wonderful and strange." -- Patrick Rothfuss • "A powerhouse epic of humans and gods at war, deeply imagined and profoundly thrilling. There are echoes of Shakespeare and Le Guin in The Raven Tower but its strange darK brilliance could only have come from Ann Leckie." -- Lev Grossman For centuries, the Kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god Known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes—but the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts. And they have made their own alliances with other gods. Into this unrest arrives the warrior Eolo--aide to Mawat, the true Lease. And in seeKing to help Mawat reclaim his city, Eolo discovers that the Raven's Tower’s foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itself...and to set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever. Ann Leckie is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. ClarKe, Locus Award and the British Science Fiction Award.