By Georgie Cutler, Eva Lee and Niamh Parr
Acquisition News
4th Estate Announces New Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Novel
Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is gearing up to publish her first full-length novel since 2013’s Americanah. Dream Count is set to be published by 4th Estate in the UK. Publishing Director Michelle Kane has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency. In the US and Canada, Dream Count will be published by Knopf.
In true Adichie style, the novel promises to be rich, compassionate and interrogative. It explores the main theme of female friendship and how it changes and endures through periods of connection and adversity. It focuses on four women: Chiamaka, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou. Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the middle of the pandemic, she finds herself pondering past relationships and bringing up old regrets. Chiamaka’s best friend Zikora is a successful lawyer but, following a shocking heartbreak, struggles to accept an unexpected new reality. Chiamaka’s cousin Omelogor, who lives and works in Nigeria, is bold and successful but questioning how well she truly knows herself. Finally, Chiamaka’s housekeeper Kadiatou is facing an extreme hardship that threatens to destroy the life she has worked so hard to build for herself and her daughter. As these women’s lives overlap through Chiamaka, their individual situations shed light on how our circumstances shape us and how we relate to each other because of or despite our choices. Dream Count is scheduled for publication on 4 March 2025.
Emma Donoghue Returns with Latest Novel
Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has acquired a new novel by Emma Donoghue, the bestselling author of Room. The Paris Express is a historical novel based on the true event of a French train derailment. In October 1895, the Granville-Paris Express train crashed through the station wall at Gare Montparnasse when the brakes failed to work in time, falling onto the street below. The wreckage was famously captured in a series of photographs as the train was not moved from the street for several days.
Donoghue’s novel is set on the packed train and focuses on the colourful individual lives of a vast cast of characters from all across the globe: politicians to anarchists, students to secretaries and even railroad crew members. Zooming in on this specific moment in time, Donoghue captures the mood at the end of the 19th century – with all its politics, progress and chaos – through the eyes of these travellers headed for Paris. The Paris Express is set to be published in March 2025 by Picador in the UK, Summit Books in the US and HarperCollins in Canada. An exclusive excerpt from the start of the book is already available to read at People.
From Book to Screen In the Works
Project Hail Mary Acquired by Amazon MGM Studios
Andy Weir’s bestselling science fiction novel Project Hail Mary is in the works for a film adaptation, with an estimated release in March 2026. The upcoming film, directed and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, tells the story of lone astronaut Ryland Grace on a mission to save humanity from an extinction-level threat, except he has no memory or knowledge of what to do. When he wakes up alone on a spaceship, he discovers he must rely on his ingenuity and unexpected alliances to solve the crisis. With a race against time, he must solve the puzzle and navigate all challenges that come his way before it is too late. The adaptation features Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, alongside Sandra Hüller and Milana Vayntrub. Viewers can look forward to a mix of suspense, science fiction and humour. Have you read the novel? Keep an eye out for more information on the official release.
Off-Campus series to get Amazon Prime show
Elle Kennedy’s bestselling college romance series is being turned into an Amazon Prime Video series adaptation. The series will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios, starting with the first novel. The Deal story follows Hannah Wells as she makes a deal with the ice hockey captain to fake date to get her crush’s attention. When Garrett Graham realises he wants more than the fake dates he’s getting, he must convince Hannah that he’s the man she needs. The other books in the series – The Mistake, The Score, The Goal and The Legacy – focus on different hockey team members finding love at Briar University. Louisa Levy (Death and Other Details) is set to act as showrunner for the series. Elle Kennedy is also joining the production as a producer.
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