Memoir of 'soul and survival' to World Editions

International fiction publisher World Editions is to release a "frank, fierce and insightful" debut entitled Always Another Country by South African writer and journalist Sisonke Msimang.

The title is a memoir of "soul and survival", telling the story of a young girl’s path to womanhood, and from displacement to engagement, via many homes. From Msimang's peripatetic childhood in a family of political exiles – from Zambia to Kenya to Canada and beyond – the book tracks formative moments in her personal and political life, including the euphoria at her return to the new South Africa, the disillusionment at new political elites, and the "ugly face" of racism and xenophobia.

Always Another Country is also an "intimate story", a testament to family bonds and sisterhood, said the publisher.

Msimang is a writer, journalist and political commentator. Her TED Talk on storytelling has been viewed more than one million times.

World Editions publisher Judith Uyterlinde bought world rights (excluding Africa, Australia and New Zealand) from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann for an undisclosed sum. World Editions will publish in the UK and the US in September 2018.

Always Another Country is already a bestseller in South Africa, published by Jonathan Ball. Text publishing has bought ANZ rights, and Isobel Dixon is handling rights enquiries.

Uyterlinde said: "We are thrilled to be publishing Always Another Country. Sisonke has an incredibly strong voice – the voice of a new generation of World Citizens. She tells a unique story that has it all: it’s intelligent, honest, moving, compelling, funny, philosophical and, above all, inspiring. The comparison with writers as Arundhati Roy and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is no exaggeration. Sisonke Msimang truly is an important author – I just love her book from the bottom of my heart."