Debut novel The Light We Lost to HQ

HQ is to publish The Light We Lost, the debut adult novel from children’s author and editor Jill Santopolo.

HQ editor Charlotte Mursell acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights from Miriam Altshuler at DeFiore and Company via Tara Singh Carlson, senior editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons, of PRH US.

According to the publisher, The Light We Lost is a "heart-breaking story about both the agony and ecstasy of love" that follows a passionate relationship set against the backdrop of a tumultuous decade of recent history.

In the novel, Lucy meets Gabe at Columbia University on the morning of 11th September, 2001. Their relationship to one another—and to the world—is forged in the crucible of that day. They both decide that they want their lives to mean something.

What follows is a journey that brings the two of them together and tears them apart, dividing and reuniting them repeatedly over the next 13 years as Gabe becomes a photojournalist in the Middle East and Lucy pursues a life and career in New York City. Theirs is a journey of dreams, of desires, of jealousy, of betrayal, of apology, of forgiveness—and above all, a journey of love.

Mursell said: “Utterly breath-taking, Jill Santopolo’s unforgettable novel blew me away. Devastatingly romantic, beautifully written, The Light We Lost is one story we were never going to let slip through our fingers.”

Santopolo said: "I am so thrilled that The Light We Lost found a British home at HQ. The entire team floored me with their passion for my novel, and I look forward to working with them to share this story with readers in the UK and the Commonwealth."

Santopolo is editorial drector of Philomel Books at Penguin USA.

The Light We Lost will be published in August 2017 in the UK by HQ and in the US, by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.