BBC winner Persaud's debut goes to Faber in 7-way auction

Faber has acquired the debut from BBC Short Story winner Ingrid Persaud to be a superlead for 2020 following a seven-publisher auction.

Love After Love was described by Faber as "a major work of fiction", to be published as a superlead for Faber, published in spring 2020. 

Louisa Joyner, editorial director at Faber, concluded a deal for UK and Commonwealth Rights to the debut following a seven-way auction with Zoë Waldie at Rogers, Coleridge and White (RCW) with Waldie securing several international deals ahead of the London Book Fair next week (12th-14th March) with deals with Gyldendal in Norway and Gyldendal in Denmark, offers in Italy and others expected shortly. 

"Meet Betty Ramdin, her son Solo and their marvellous lodger, Mr Chetan," the blurb reads. "Love After Love is the story of this unconventional family unit, loving and depending on one another until a secret mistakenly overheard forces them to breaking point." 

"In vibrant, addictive Trinidadian prose, Love After Love tackles the questions of who and how we can love, the obligations of family and the consequences of choices made in desperation," Faber said.

Born in Trinidad, Persaud won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2017 and the BBC Short Story Award in 2018.  She read law at the LSE and was a legal academic before taking degrees in fine art at Goldsmiths College and Central Saint Martins. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Prospect and Pree magazines. She lives in London and Barbados.

Joyner said: '"This is a rare and beautiful gift of a novel: it feeds the soul, warms the heart and strengthens the resolve. A love letter to family and faith in all its forms, I believe it will grace bookshelves and stay with readers for many, many years to come."

Persaud said: "Louisa Joyner and the Faber team are an impressive combination of excellence and independence. My super-agent Zoë Waldie (RCW) ensured that I had a choice of wonderful editors and I am confident that Love After Love is in very good hands."

Tanya Tillett at The Agency will be handling film rights.