World Editions to publish Dieudonné’s debut

World Editions has scooped the English translation of Adeline Dieudonné’s debut Real Life, translated by Roland Glasser, with 18 foreign publishers snapping up translation rights. 

World Editions publisher Judith Uyterlinde bought world English language rights from Sophie Langlais at French Publishing House Les Arènes - L’Iconoclaste for an undisclosed sum.  World Editions will publish in the UK and the US in February 2020.

“The father is a big game hunter, a powerful predator; the mother is submissive to her violent husband’s demands. The young narrator spends the days with her brother, playing in the shells of cars dumped for scrap and listening out for the chimes of the ice-cream truck, until a brutal accident shatters their world,” said the publisher. 

Uyterlinde said: “We were among the very first of the eighteen foreign publishers to buy the translation rights of this unique new voice. When I bought the rights, the original French edition wasn’t even out yet. I rarely buy translation rights before the books are even published, but in this case upon reading the text I felt that rare instinctive excitement that told me that Adeline Dieudonné had everything in her to become a future literary superstar. She has a unique passionate voice that grips you from the very first page and doesn’t let you escape until long after you have finished reading.”

The coming-of-age tale has won major prizes including the Prix du Roman FNAC; the Prix Filigrane, for literary quality and accessibility; the Prix Renaudot des Lycéens; and Belgian literary prize Prix Rossel.