Sarah Thomas's QUEEN K to be lead debut for Serpent's Tail
We are delighted to announce that Sarah Thomas’ Queen K has been sold as a lead debut for Serpent’s Tail. Luke Brown, editorial director, acquired world rights excluding North America from Katie Greenstreet.
Queen K is a literary thriller exploring the dark world behind Russian wealth. It will publish as a lead debut in February 2023.
The story was inspired by Thomas’ work as a private tutor to the super wealthy, which she began doing after leaving university. The events of Queen K are narrated by an unreliable tutor who, while teaching an oligarch’s daughter, becomes privy to suspicious deaths and to the downfall of his wife.
“On a balmy evening in late March, Kata hosts a party on the superyacht that she owns with her husband,” the synopsis reads. “Tables cover the massive deck, adorned with orchids, champagne bottles, name cards of famous people, while uniformed staff flank a red carpet on the landing dock. This night marks the attainment of something she’s wanted for a long time: acceptance into the glittering world of high society. But there are those who wish to come between Kata and her goal. They are complex and angry, full of resentment. And they are closer to home than she could ever have imagined.
“Narrated with delicious unreliability by a troubled young Englishwoman employed to tutor this family’s precocious daughter, Queen K pulls back the curtain on the power plays within one extraordinary family, as world politics begin to encroach on their corrupt and fiercely defended haven.”
Brown said: “Queen K is a glittering literary thriller about a subject we are particularly aware of at the moment: the dark side of Russian money and what happens to the oligarchs who get on the wrong side of Putin. It’s a debut that reminded me of Fitzgerald, Highsmith and le Carré.”
“In my 20s I worked all over the world as a private tutor for the super-rich,” Thomas said. “I drew on this experience to write Queen K and realised as I did that the best form to crystallise their world was that of a tragedy. I am very excited to be published on the Serpent’s Tail imprint alongside writers I admire such as Mary Gaitskill, Chris Kraus, Pola Oloixarac and Elfriede Jelinek.”
Brooke Robinson's THE INTERPRETER acquired in six figure pre-empt
We are delighted to announce that Harvill Secker has acquired the UK rights for debut author Brooke Robinson’s “devastating” psychological thriller The Interpreter in a six figure pre-empt.
Katie Ellis-Brown, deputy publishing director for crime, thriller and crossover fiction, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Katie Greenstreet at Paper Literary in a two-book deal. The novel will publish as Vintage’s lead crime thriller debut for 2023.
US rights were pre-empted by Emily Griffin at HarperCollins and rights have been sold to Piemme at auction in Italy and to Droemer Knaur in Germany.
The novel follows a police interpreter and single mum who begins deliberately mistranslating statements to secure convictions, only for someone to discover what she’s doing and seek justice of their own.
Ellis-Brown said: “This is a book I’ve been waiting years to publish – it is full of emotional-depth, is exceptionally well-written and has a wholly satisfying plot with a twist that is genuinely brilliant – there is nothing like this in the genre right now.
“I can already hear readers saying ‘have you read the one about the interpreter?’ Brooke is a dream author and really has delivered a very special thriller. I feel privileged that she has chosen Harvill Secker as her partner to launch what is sure to be a huge writing career.”
Robinson, who hails from Australia and is also a playwright, said: “From the beginning it was clear to me that Katie and Harvill Secker were the perfect team for The Interpreter. Their vision and ambition for this book is truly exciting and I’m beyond thrilled to be working with them. Thanks go to my fabulous agent Katie for her energy and passion in making it all happen.”