PW Review Leads to Multimillion-Dollar Deal

By Matthew Thornton -- Publishers Weekly, 10/22/2007 7:30:00 AM

Brunonia Barry, whose independently published debut novel, The Lace Reader, received a starred PW review in early August, now has a seven-figure world English rights deal with William Morrow for that book and a second. Laurie Chittenden beat out several other houses, reportedly including Grand Central and Hyperion, after agent Rebecca Oliver at Endeavor turned down a seven-figure preemptive offer that kicked off an auction. Oliver just accepted a substantial preempt in Italy and has auctions coming up in six more territories; Harper will publish in the U.K.

The Lace Reader centers on a young woman descended from a long line of mind readers and fortune tellers who can read the future in patterns of lace. Her return to her hometown of Salem, Mass., to recover from a series of traumas is tragically interrupted by the death of a beloved great-aunt. Circumstances suggest foul play, but the woman’s suspicions aren’t taken seriously given her history of hallucinations and self-harm. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a fictional book, The Lace Reader’s Guide, written by a character in the novel, that offers insight into what lies ahead for the reader.

Barry is a Massachusetts native who has recently returned there after nearly a decade as a screenwriter in Hollywood. This is the first major book deal for Endeavor’s new literary arm, and Chittenden has had some success with independently published debuts before—most recently, the #1 New York Times bestseller The Christmas Box. Pub date for Morrow in the U.S. and Harper in the U.K. is fall 2008.

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