Lightning Books acquires latest from bestselling NZ writer

Eye Books imprint Lightning Books has acquired The Beat of the Pendulum by New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey, whose previous novel The Wish Child (published in the UK by Vintage) won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction and has been a major bestseller in the country over the past year. 

Editor-at-large Scott Pack acquired UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada & ANZ) rights from Caroline Dawnay at United Agents.

The Beat of the Pendulum is a "found novel", comprising material such as news stories, radio broadcasts, emails, social media, street signs, TV, and conversations. "What starts out as seemingly disparate daily entries gradually reveals itself to be a story about family, memory and the passage of time," according to the publisher. 

As the first entry in the book is for January 1st, The Beat of the Pendulum will be published in the UK on January 1st 2019.

Pack said: "The Wish Child was my favourite book of last year. When I tweeted as much at Christmas, Catherine saw it and suggested that her agent get in touch. Little more than a week later we had signed the deal to publish her new book. The Beat of the Pendulum is a bold, experimental piece of work that will, I am sure, be many readers' book of the year."

Chidgey added: "Though deeply personal in some respects, the book also buzzes with 21st century static recognisable the world over. I'm excited to see how a UK audience relates to it."