Doubleday scoops Rainsford's debut in 4-way auction

Doubleday has acquired a "ground-breaking" literary debut, Follow Me to Ground, by Dublin-based writer Sue Rainsford following a four-way auction.

Jane Lawson, editorial director at Doubleday UK and Fiona Murphy, editorial director at Doubleday Ireland, sealed a two-book deal for UK and commonwealth rights with exclusive Europe, Ireland and audio in a four-way auction from Lucy Luck at C & W on behalf of the author as well as Irish indie New Island Books for Follow Me To Ground, which originally published the book in Ireland in May 2018.

Follow Me to Ground will be published as a Doubleday hardback in August 2019 and by Scribner in the US. Rainsford’s second novel, Redder Days, will be published simultaneously by Doubleday UK and Doubleday Ireland in 2020.

Described by the publisher as "deliciously sinister and sensuous", the literary debut tells of a girl-like creature named Ada and her father who live in the woods of an unnamed town and use their ability to heal humans by burying them in a special ground until they are cured. "The heart of the story is about how Ada’s transgressive affair with a human or ‘Cure’ challenges the careful status quo," Doubleday said.

Lawson said: "I was immediately captivated by the other-worldliness of this novel, and by its unfathomable heroine. It explores themes of free will, power and desire with such genius and imagination that it is impossible not to fall under its dark charm. Sue Rainsford is an audacious new talent who is fearlessly pushing boundaries. Doubleday UK and Ireland are immensely excited to be publishing her."

Rainsford has an MFA from Bennington College, Vermont, and won an Arts Council Literature Bursary Award as well as the VAI/DCC Critical Writing Award.