curtis brown australia rights newsletter november 2013

1 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Curtis Brown Australia

November 2013

Rights Newsletter

Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd | Literary Agents

PO Box 19 | Paddington NSW 2021 | Australia

T: [61 2] 9361 6161 or 9331 5301 | F: [61 2] 9360 3935

E: [email protected] | W: www.curtisbrown.com.au


ADULT

HAPPY EVA AFTER

Chris Harrison (Allen & Unwin)

Genre: Fiction

Description: A warm and lovely novel about the grammar of modern

life. As a teacher at the Fawlty Towers of London language colleges,

Sebastian Pink is accustomed to confusion caused by the complexities

of the English language. Married to Sarah, a career woman who has

long been a total workaholic but is now desperate for a baby,

Sebastian feels ambivalent about becoming a parent. Sarah has

effectively been absent from his life for so long that they’ve grown apart

and these days his social life has come to revolve around his work;

walking his dog, Claude; and his obsessive daily completion of the

cryptic crossword. When an alluring Czech student called Eva becomes one of Sebastian’s

students – and inadvertently provides him with the last solution in his morning crossword – he

finds himself drawn into a sordid suburban tangle based mainly on his own

misinterpretations and feverish imagination.

Happy Eva After is a seriously funny comedy about a bloke, his wife, his dog, an alluring

young woman with a mysterious past, and the nuances of the English language.

Rights Available: World excl ANZ, Audio, Film/TV

Agent: Fran Moore [email protected]

A COUNTRY TOO FAR

Writings on Asylum Seekers

Edited by Tom Keneally & Rosie Scott (Penguin Australia)

Genre: Essays

Description: ‘I don’t think I’ve seen a more impressive collection of

Australian writers in a single book.’ Stephen Romei, The Australian

One of the central moral issues of our time is the question of asylum

seekers, arguably the most controversial subject in Australia today. In

this landmark anthology, twenty-seven of Australia’s finest writers have

focused their intelligence and creativity on the theme of the

dispossessed, bringing a whole new perspective of depth and

truthfulness to what has become a fraught, distorted war of words. This

anthology confirms that the experience of seeking asylum – the journeys

of escape from death, starvation, poverty or terror to an imagined

paradise – is part of the Australian mindset and deeply embedded in our culture and

personal histories. A Country Too Far is a tour de force of stunning fiction, memoir, poetry

and essays. Edited by award-winning writers Rosie Scott and Tom Keneally, and featuring

contributors including Anna Funder, Christos Tsiolkas, Elliot Perlman, Gail Jones, Raimond

Gaita, Les Murray, Rodney Hall and Geraldine Brooks, this rich anthology is by turns

thoughtful, fierce, evocative, lyrical and moving, and always extraordinarily powerful.

A Country Too Far makes an indispensable contribution to the national debate.

Rights Available: Film/TV

Agent: Fiona Inglis [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



SUFFICIENT GRACE

Amy Espeseth (Scribe)

Genre: Fiction

Description: ‘A burning first novel … Espeseth gives a virtuoso evocation

of ice and blood in rural United States, with a powerful dramatic story of

sibling loyalty in the midst of family strife.’ Ian Sansom, Marina Warner,

and Ed Byrne, Warwick Prize for Writing judges, 2013 (SHORTLISTED)

Impac Dublin Literary Award 2013 (LONGLISTED)

Ruth and her cousin Naomi live in rural Wisconsin, part of an isolated

religious community. The girls’ lives are ruled by the rhythms of nature –

the harsh winters, the hunting seasons, the harvesting of crops – and by

their families’ beliefs. Beneath the surface of this closed, frozen world,

hidden dangers lurk.

Then Ruth learns that Naomi harbours a terrible secret. She searches for solace in the

mysteries of the natural world. Can the girls’ prayers for deliverance be answered?

Sufficient Grace is a story of lost innocence and the unfailing bond between two young

women. It is at once devastating and beautiful, and ultimately transcendent.


Agent: Clare Forster [email protected]

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Caroline Overington (Bantam/Random House Australia)

Genre: Fiction

Description: From bestselling author and award-winning journalist

Caroline Overington comes another thought-provoking and heart-

rending story that reaches from the heart of Bondi to a small village in

Tanzania.

Shortly after 9.30 in the morning, a young man walks into Surf City,

Bondi’s newest shopping complex. He’s wearing a dark grey hoodie –

and a bomb around his neck.

Just a few minutes later he is locked in a shop on the upper floor. And

trapped with him are four innocent bystanders.

For police chaplain Paul Doherty, called to the scene by Superintendent

Boehm, it’s a story that will end as tragically as it began. For this is clearly no ordinary siege.

The boy, known as Ali Khan, seems as frightened as his hostages and has yet to utter a

single word.

The seconds tick by for the five in the shop: Mitchell, the talented schoolboy; Mouse, the

shop assistant; Kimmi, the nail-bar technician; and Roger Callaghan, the real estate agent

whose reason for being in Bondi that day is far from innocent.

And of course there’s Ali Khan. Is he the embodiment of evil, as the villagers in his Tanzanian

birthplace believe? Or simply an innocent boy, betrayed at every turn, who just wants a

place to call home?






THE STOCKMEN

The Making of an Australian Legend

Evan McHugh (Viking/Penguin Australia)

Genre: Non Fiction

Description: Working in some of the world’s most challenging natural

landscapes with beasts from tame to totally wild, the stockman

speaks to something within the soul of every Australian.

Evan McHugh, one of Australia’s foremost chroniclers of the

outback and the bush, presents the fascinating history of the

stockmen and women who have carved a living from the rugged

ranges of the high country to the vast arid heart of the outback.

Richly illustrated with archival images and documents, as well as

stunning contemporary photographs, the book tells the story of the

stockmen throughout the ages, taking in legendary stock routes like

the Murranji and Birdsville Track, the roles of Aboriginal workers and stockwomen, and the

trials and triumphs of life in the stock camp.

The voices of stockmen throughout the ages are woven together with McHugh’s renowned

expertise and keen eye for detail, to capture the epic scale of the famous cattle stations,

how the industry has shaped the country and the unique pleasures of the stockman’s life.

This is the definitive story of an Australian icon.


Agent: Clare Forster [email protected]

100 DAYS HAPPIER

Domonique Bertolucci (Hardie Grant)

Genre: Non Fiction

Description: 100 Days Happier is a collection of inspirational messages

and quotes, based on the bestselling book The Happiness Code and its

Ten Keys, motivating and encouraging the reader to be the best they

can be. So many people are waiting to feel happy, they think they will be

happy when they have this or they’ve done that, that perhaps money, a

partner, or that new position is the key. But the truth is, lasting happiness is

something that you create, each and every day, through the simple

choices that you make. 100 Days Happier invites the reader to make

small daily changes in the way they think and act; changes that will

ultimately create a fundamental shift in the way they feel about who

they are and the life they are living. This book will energise and motivate you to be your

best self, every day.


Agent: Tara Wynne [email protected]




LE SHOP GUIDE

The Best of Paris for the Fashion Traveller

Michi Girl (Penguin Australia)

Genre: Fiction

Description: From bestselling Michi authors, Chloe Quigley and Daniel

Pollock, comes the coolest, most accessible guide to French fashion – so

that you too can shop and dress like a local.

There’s no denying that French women know how to dress. And this book

tells you where they shop. Michi and her friends have scoured the streets

of Paris to bring you the coolest, the chicest, the very best shops in this

fashionable city – for fabulous, accessible fashion. Here is pure shopping

gold: names, addresses, opening hours and website details of over 100

places for clothes, bags, shoes, flea markets, department stores and

vintage goods. These are shops that many of us won’t have heard of but

they are established and well-regarded brands in France.

The most chic and cute cafes and food stops are also included, to break up the shopping

day. The authors have such fun with their ‘Sit and Sip’ suggestions. You’ll even find out

where to get the best manicure in town.

This is a true insider’s guide that will give you the shopping trip of your life. When it comes to

shopping, nobody knows more than Michi. And when it comes to fashion, nobody does it

better than the French. So when Michi takes us shopping in Paris, it can only have a happy

ending. Together with her local friends, Michi has scoured the streets of Paris to bring you

the cool, the chic, the vintage and the must-see shops of the world’s best-dressed city.

With perfectly designed days to suit your every mood, Michi will guide you from blow outs

to budget bliss, flea markets to Fendi. This is le guide for those who love le shopping.


Agent: Laura Dunn [email protected]



CHILDREN’S

FIGARO AND RUMBA AND THE COOL CATS

Anna Fienberg, illustrated by Stephen Michael King (Allen & Unwin)

Genre: Children’s picture book (5-8 years)

Description: Another exciting adventure starring the irrepressible

Figaro and his cat-friend Rumba, and the Cool Cats from the cafe –

an entertaining picture book in five chapters by Anna Fienberg and

Stephen Michael King.

Figaro and Rumba are old friends. And their new friends are the cats

who run the Cool Cats Cafe. Customers come from everywhere to try

their chicken empanadas, and to swoon beneath the spell of their

singing and steel guitars.

But the Cool Cats top singer can’t rehearse while Figaro is howling out

of tune. Anyway, Figaro would rather be exploring than singing, and

Dora, the little ginger cat, has the keys to the singer’s classic Catmobile! Figaro had thought

he’d seen a monster in the car, but when he sniffed inside he could only smell polish,

leather and fish... so off they go! Vroom, vroom, vroo-oo- ooom!



ESTHER’S RAINBOW

Kim Kane, illustrated by Sara Acton (Allen & Unwin)

Genre: Children’s picture book (3-6 years)

Description: A truly delightful picture book about exploring

colour, from the creators of The Unexpected Crocodile. An

instant classic!

Esther spies a rainbow peeking out from under her chair...and

then it’s gone.

She looks for colours in everything she sees, finding a different

rainbow colour each day of the week – but will she find her

rainbow again?

A warm and joyous family story about exploring the world, from

two award-winning creators.

Rights Available: Film/TV, Audio





SILVER BRUMBY ECHOING

Elyne Mitchell (HarperCollins Australia)

Genre: Children’s fiction

Description: Continuing the story of Thowra, the magnificent silver

stallion, king of the brumbies – and bringing these magical Australian

tales to a new generation of readers

The Silver Brumby Centenary Edition and Silver Brumby Kingdom contain

the first eight titles in the Silver Brumby series. This third volume contains

the final five titles which complete the much-loved Silver Brumby series.

The first Silver Brumby book was published in 1958 and cemented Elyne

Mitchell’s reputation as one of Australia’s best-loved children’s authors.

Countless numbers of children have enjoyed the story of Thowra, the

silver stallion who was king of the brumbies, and now a new generation

of horse-lovers will be able to either discover or re-read these treasured classics




curtis brown australia rights newsletter november 2013

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