New Wally Lamb novel to PRH

Penguin Random House has acquired bestselling American author Wally Lamb's new novel, I’ll Take You There.

Lamb's book follows his 1992 novel She’s Come Undone (Simon & Schuster UK), which launched his career after gaining worldwide publicity for being featured in Oprah's Book Club selection. His other novels are I Know This Much is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin’ and Hopin’ and We Are Water (HarperCollins).

I’ll Take You There is pitched as an "evocative and kaleidoscopic convergence of Hollywood, feminism and family secrets", about one Baby Boomer's life and the resiliency, strength and power of the unforgettable women who changed it.

Susan Sandon, managing director of Cornerstone, Penguin Random House, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to I’ll Take You There for an undisclosed sum from US-based publisher Metabook. 

Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management brokered the deal on behalf of Metabook, which will publish the novel worldwide exclusively as a multimedia app for iPad and iPhone on 20th November 2016.  In addition to the full text of the novel, the I’ll Take You There metabook will also include a full-cast audio dramatisation, an original soundtrack, short films, "360°" galleries and shareable images.

Hutchinson, an imprint of Cornerstone, will publish the book in hardback, e-book and export trade paperback on 22nd November 2016, with an Arrow paperback to follow in 2017.

Sandon said: "As his millions of adoring American readers can attest, Wally Lamb has an incredible gift for getting inside the minds of his heroines and revealing them in all their complexity. I am delighted to welcome him and I’ll Take You There to Hutchinson and glad that readers here will now have the opportunity to discover this affecting new novel."

Christian Alfonsi, president and c.e.o. of Metabook, said: “We are excited to be partnering with Hutchinson on this title,” said Christian Alfonsi, president and CEO of Metabook. ‘Hutchinson’s proven success with some of the world’s best-loved authors makes them a welcome addition to our distinguished group of publishing partners worldwide."      

Lamb, who is based in New York and Connecticut, said: "I have a special place in my heart for my UK readers, whose letters and notes about my novels over the years have become treasured keepsakes. Now, as a Hutchinson author, I feel twice blessed. I’m thrilled and grateful to be represented by this very fine publisher."