The Bookseller.com

29th August 2008

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German literary porn hit to HC

30.05.08 Graeme Neill

Feuchtgebiete by Charlotte Roche—the talk of the London Book Fair after it topped Amazon's worldwide bestseller chart in March—has been acquired by Fourth Estate publishing director Nicholas Pearson for a "decent" sum.

The deal, which was struck following a bidding war among UK publishers, was for UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada and was done with Roche's German publishing house DuMont Buchverlag.

Feuchtgebiete, which translates as "moist regions" and which is being published as Wetlands by Fourth Estate, has been subject to controversy because of its frank examination of female sexuality. It is a bestseller in Germany, and is the first German novel to top Amazon's world bestseller chart. The book is about a teenage girl and her relationship with her own body.

"The novel is about the bold place between reality and imagination where a lot of people's sexual identities reside," said Pearson. "It's a very sarcastic, very funny and very playful book."
Pearson is likely to publish in hardback next spring. He believes that the novel will "hit a nerve with people". "We live in a highly sexualised society," he said. "Even yoghurt adverts seem to be sexualised in some way and the book is a reaction to that kind of society."

Roche is a 30-year-old actress and television presenter. She was born in Wimbledon but grew up in Germany.

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