Faber acquires Edna O'Brien memoir

04.02.10 | Katie Allen in The Bookseller

Faber has acquired the “memoir-in-progress" of Irish novelist and short story writer Edna O'Brien.

Faber publishing director Lee Brackstone concluded the deal for UK & Commonwealth rights with agent Ed Victor. US rights have been bought by Pat Strachan at Little, Brown.
Provisionally titled Country Girl, the memoir is scheduled for publication in 2011. It “promises to deliver the author's own version of one of the great romantic literary stories of the past century" according to the publisher.

Brackstone said: "Faber is the natural home for Edna's writing. These pages sparkle with wit, mischief and magic and the full story promises to provide an unforgettable snapshot of a mercurial life lived in the heat of passion and literary endeavour; a story that is absolutely at the heart of 20th-century literary history.

"But the extraordinary thing about Edna's story, and this book, is that its appeal transcends the sometimes narrow bounds of the 'literary life'. It is a story that will resonate with all readers, young and old.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for an editor and a publishing company."

Faber also acquired a new collection of stories, Old Wounds, to be published first in spring 2011.