Weidenfeld & Nicolson bags ‘astonishingly good debut’, EDITH AND JULIAN by Naoise Dolan in seven-publisher auction

W&N have acquired EDITH AND JULIAN, by Naoise Dolan, after a hotly-contested seven-way auction.

Lettice Franklin, Commissioning Editor at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, has acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights in a two-book deal from Harriet Moore at David Higham Associates. W&N will publish the debut in Spring 2020. North American rights to EDITH AND JULIAN were pre-empted by Megan Lynch, VP and Editorial Director at Ecco. Rights have sold to Wahlstrom & Widstrand in Sweden and sold to Atlas Contact in Holland. It is under offer in Russia and there is an auction on-going in France.

Ava, newly arrived in Hong Kong from Dublin, spends her days teaching English to rich children.
Julian is a banker who likes to spend money on Ava but when she asks whether he loves her, cannot say more than ‘I like you a great deal’.

Enter Edith, a lawyer, who Ava meets while Julian is away for work and has an urge to talk very fast to.

Ava doesn’t tell Edith about Julian, and she doesn’t tell Julian about Edith, and by the time Edith is Ava’s girlfriend it’s too late. And then Julian writes to tell Ava he’s coming back. Will she return to the safety of the quarantined, witty dynamic with Julian, or risk facing love—vulnerable and exposed for the first time—with Edith?

Lettice Franklin, editor said: ‘With rare wit, deep intelligence and the sharpest prose, Naoise Dolan has breathed fresh life into one of our essential stories: the love triangle. Alongside this love story runs an exceptionally candid and clever consideration of our modern world, as Naoise peels off a protective layer to reveal how every encounter, every utterance, every emotion is tied to class and money. EDITH AND JULIAN is an astonishingly good, deeply enjoyable debut – and I feel absolutely certain that it marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.’

Naoise Dolan, author said: ‘I had a lot of fun writing EDITH AND JULIAN, but definitely wasn’t expecting this level of response. Harriet has been the most formidable champion I could ask for, and in Lettice I know I’ll have another brilliant advocate. I’m so excited to work with them and W&N to get the book out.’

Harriet Moore, agent said: ‘I couldn’t be happier that this slyly humorous, fiercely smart, politically alert debut novel will be published with intelligence, brio and ambition by Lettice and W&N.’

Naoise Dolanis an Irish writer born in Dublin. She studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University. Edith and Julianis her first novel, an excerpt from which was published in The Stinging Fly.

W&N will publish EDITH AND JULIAN as a hardback, trade paperback, ebook and audio in Spring 2020.