Goldfish novel to Ebury

Ebury has bought a “highly original” novel by Bradley Somer.

Fiction publishing director Gillian Green bought British Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to Fishbowl, from St Martin’s Press, a division of Macmillan in the US.

Fishbowl follows Ian the goldfish, who lives on the 27th floor of an apartment block and longs for a more exciting life.

A series of unfortunate events give him the opportunity to escape, and as Ian tumbles downwards, he witnesses the lives of the human inhabitants of the building, including a handsome student, his girlfriend and his mistress; an agoraphobic sex worker; a pregnant woman on bed rest; and a home-schooled boy who thinks he can travel through time.

Green said: “This is a truly original, philosophically joyful and utterly charming novel with the unlikeliest of heroes. Think Short Cuts or Tales of the City as seen by a goldfish. Fans of Matt Haig, Rachel Joyce and Jonas Jonasson are sure to adore this gem of a novel.”  

Fishbowl will be published in hardback in August 2015, simultaneously with St Martin’s Press.