Agents' key FBF 2015 titles: part one

The Wylie Agency has Karl Ove Knausgård’s The Morning Star: A Novel, following the arrival of the Devil in Bergen; and Seasons Book One: In Autumn, reflecting on what life will have to offer the author’s daughter. Both are with Harvill Secker in the UK. Orhan Pamuk’s The Red-Haired Woman is the story of a well-digger and his apprentice looking for water in barren terrain. Patrick French’s The Golden Woman: The Authorised Biography of Doris Lessing will go on submission before the fair. Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff’s The Curse of Cash argues that paper currency is the single biggest impediment to the smooth functioning of the global financial system. Princeton University Press has world English rights. Louise Erdrich’s LaRose is the story of a young boy who connects two families. Corsair will publish in the UK.

Georgina Capel Associates has The Romanovs: 1613–1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore, a history of Russia’s imperial dynasty to be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Churchill by Andrew Roberts is described as the definitive modern biography of Sir Winston Churchill. Ian Mortimer’s time-travel novel The Outcasts of Time, which begins in 14th- century Devon, is on submission in the UK. Infinite Ground is Martin MacInnes’ début novel; it will be published by Atlantic in the UK in August 2016.

Eve White Literary Agency has The Drowning Lesson, the second novel from Jane Shemilt. It is with Michael Joseph in the UK. Stopping Places by Damian Le Bas, on submission in the UK, is a début novel. The Mother by Yvvette Edwards is with Mantle in the UK. Jennifer Klinec’s The Temporary Bride was published by Little, Brown in the UK. Daisy Johnson’s Fen is a collection of linked stories, to be published by Jonathan Cape in the UK.

United Talent Agency (UTA) takes Halcyon by Katie Khan, a love story set in space. It is at auction in the UK and US. The Unseeing by Anna Mazola is a Victorian crime novel, with Tinder Press in the UK. Jeetendr Sehdev’s The Kim Kardashian Principle, being handled on behalf of UTA NY, is at auction in the UK. It explores how the culture of celebrity is changing the way consumers buy products. Angela Clarke’s Follow Me, a début crime novel about a young journalist who witnesses a brutal murder in east London, is with HarperCollins in the UK. My Best Friend’s Ex by Eva Woods, with Harlequin in the UK, is a contemporary romantic comedy.

Sheil Land Associates has translation rights in Graham Hancock’s non-fiction book Magicians of the Gods, with Hodder in the UK. In fiction, The Gustav Sonata, the new novel by Rose Tremain, is a coming-of-age story about two boys. The Library at the Edge of the World is Felicity Hayes- McCoy’s début novel. It is with Hachette Ireland, which will publish in the UK. A Lethal Inheritance by début author Charlie Hodges, on submission in UK and US, is a crime novel about a 70-year-old private investigator. Cath Quinn’s historical thriller Fire Catcher is with Thomas & Mercer in the UK and Germany.

The Hanbury Agency has Thinking Machines: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Our World by Luke Dormehl. World English rights are with Ebury. Catherine Hickley’s The Munich Art Hoard: Hitler’s Dealer and His Secret Legacy is with Thames & Hudson in the UK and Commonwealth. Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics is with Random House in the UK. The Jeweller’s Wife is the new novel by Judith Lennox, with Headline Review set to publish in the UK in 2016. Oscar de Muriel’s A Fever of the Blood is the second novel in the author’s Victorian crime series. Penguin UK has world rights.

Ed Victor Ltd has Nigella Lawson’s new cookbook, Simply Nigella, released this autumn in the UK by Chatto & Windus. The Secret Lives of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost, with Pan Macmillan in the UK, reveals what happened in the world of “Twin Peaks” after the TV show ended. A A Gill’s Pour Me, with Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK, is a memoir by the Sunday Times columnist. Ben Macintyre’s Authorised History of the SAS is to be published in the UK by Viking. Marte Marie Forsberg’s My Cottage Kitchen is a cookbook. World English-language rights are with Clarkson Potter in the US.

Diane Banks Associates takes Cut, a book about female genital mutilation, by anti-FGM campaigner Hibo Wardere and Anna Wharton. UK rights are with S&S. Enterprise by Lord Young (with Martin Vander Weyer) explores the history of entrepreneurship in the UK. CTRL; ALT; DELETE: The Art of Online Survival by Emma Gannon is a collection of essays exploring how the internet affected the author. It is with Ebury in the UK. Dani Atkins’ novel Our Song is with S&S in the UK. Unkindness by Katerina Diamond, with Avon in the UK, is a psychological crime début.

David Godwin Associates has Swimming Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor, a collection of stories pre-empted by Picador in the UK. Mister Memory by Marcus Sedgwick is a literary mystery about a murderer with an impeccable memory. Hodder will publish in the UK. The Shaping of Us by environmental psychologist Lily Bernheimer reveals how public space, housing, workspaces, healthcare environments and cities shape our identity. Redeemable: A Memoir of Darkness and Hope by Erwin James is with Bloomsbury in the UK. Turning: A Year in the Water by Jessica J Lee chronicles a year in which the author swam in 52 different lakes.

Aitken Alexander Associates takes A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson, set during the period in which Agatha Christie disappeared, with the author herself embroiled in a murder case. S&S acquired world English rights for a six-figure sum. The Butchers of Berlin by Chris Petit, with S&S UK, is about a First World War veteran who kills the warden of his building and then shoots himself. It is set during the Second World War. Sebastian Faulks’ new novel Where My Heart Used to Beat was released by Hutchinson in the UK. Jo Baker’s novel A Country Road, A Tree follows a young writer as he journeys from his home in Ireland to conflict-ridden Paris in 1939. Doubleday will publish in the UK. In non-fiction, Marriages are Made in Bond Street by Penrose Halson tells the story of two young women who founded a marriage bureau in London’s Bond Street in 1939. Macmillan has world English rights.

Greene & Heaton takes Steven Amsterdam’s new novel, Quality of Life, a darkly humorous and uplifting story of a medical-suicide assistant and his spirited but ailing mother. Helen Callaghan’s début suspense novel is Dear Amy, in which a young girl has gone missing. UK rights sold to Michael Joseph at auction. Ian McGuire’s The North Water is a literary novel set on a whaling ship on a gruelling excursion to the Arctic. UK rights sold to Scribner. In non-fiction, Marcus du Sautoy explores the edges of human knowledge in What We Cannot Know, with Fourth Estate in the UK. Cosmology professor Fergus Simpson’s The Cosmic Menagerie, on submission in the UK, examines the pursuit of alien life to answer if “they” are out there—and exactly where “they” are.

LBA has You and Me by Alex Caan, the story of a YouTube vlogger who goes missing, with videos of her captured and shackled appearing online. It is on submission. Ed Craik’s Siren City is a début novel exploring the dark side of Italy. Christmas on Primrose Hill by Karen Swan is with Macmillan in the UK. The Three Hares by Rupert Kingfisher is a fantastical adventure for Middle Grade readers, currently on submission. Ariella and the Curse of Dawnhaven by Owen and Beth Crane is about a girl who decides she doesn’t want to be a princess anymore after her father is killed.

PFD has The Book of Mirrors by Romanian novelist E O Chirovici, his first novel in English. Gone is child prodigy violinist Min Kym’s memoir, which centres around the theft of her Stradivarius violin. Max Hastings’ The Secret War is about espionage during the Second World War, with HarperCollins in the UK. Burning Angels by Bear Grylls is the second title in the adventurer’s fiction series, with Orion in the UK. A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax is with Viking in the UK and Commonwealth. Abigail Marsh’s Good for Nothing: Why We Care and Why We Don’t presents new research into altruism.

Curtis Brown takes The Dry by Jane Harper, a pacy début exploring the return of a policeman to the drought-stricken country town of his youth, where the townspeople are stunned by the brutal murder of a mother and child. It is with Little, Brown in the UK. Shot Through the Heart by Isabelle Grey, with Quercus in the UK, is the second instalment in a crime series. Carol Drinkwater’s The Forgotten Summer is about a woman whose husband dies in a car accident. It is with Michael Joseph in the UK. Jake Arnott’s The Fatal Tree is the story of Edgworth Bess. Hannah Kent’s The Good People, with Picador in the UK, is set in rural Ireland in 1825 and inspired by a true event.

The Viney Agency has Cast Away: The Shame on Europe’s Doorstep by Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, which tells the story of the refugees of the Syrian Civil War, to be published by Portobello. The Commanders: Leadership in Afghanistan: America’s Longest War by analyst and commentator Norine Macdonald and the BBC’s Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn is the inside story of a group of generals involved in the conflict. The Anatomy of Laughter by Robin Ince looks at what characterises and shapes comedians. Secret Agent: The Life of Brian Stonehouse by Paul Dowswell is about a special operations executive agent who survived five concentration camps to become Vogue’s top fashion illustrator and a royal portrait painter. The Wish Book by Justine Windsor is a darkly funny gothic adventure for Middle Grade readers.

Part two of agents' key titles will be available online on Friday 9th October.