Adlington’s Dressmakers of Auschwitz won by Hodder amid international rights frenzy

Hodder & Stoughton has won costume historian and novelist Lucy Adlington’s narrative history The Dressmakers of Auschwitz in a five-way auction.

The book tells the true story of the young women and teenagers who were saved from the gas chambers to sew haute couture dresses at a tailoring studio within Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

On the basis of the proposal, in the UK, it was acquired by Rupert Lancaster at Hodder & Stoughton in a deal negotiated by Kate Shaw of The Shaw Agency. In the US, it sold at auction to Sara Nelson, the US editor of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, at Harper in a deal brokered by Allison Hellegers at Stimola Literary Studio, working on behalf of The Shaw Agency.

The Bookseller understands the book went for a high five-figure sum in the UK and for six figures in the US.

Ten translation rights deals have also been done by the Intercontinental Literary Agency on behalf of The Shaw Agency. It has so far sold rights in Spanish, Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Lithuanian.

The finished draft of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz is expected to be delivered in autumn 2020 for publication in 2021.

It follows Adlington's 2017 young adult novel, The Red Ribbon (Zaffre) that, telling the story of a 14-year-old Jewish girl working as a seamstress at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, went on to be optioned for film by Overbrook Entertainment. While selling 2,204 copies in hardback and 1,792 in paperback in the UK through Nielsen BookScan, it now has seven translation deals.

Adlington said: "Uncovering and sharing the real life stories of these remarkable women is a privilege. Many decades have passed since Auschwitz was liberated, but there are still witnesses alive who can speak of their experiences, ensuring that we do not forget what they endured, along with tales of abiding friendships and loyalty even in the most extreme circumstances. I am so pleased to be working with experienced, enthusiastic editors to bring The Dressmakers of Auschwitz to a wide readership."

Lancaster at Hodder & Stoughton said: “I was very moved by Lucy’s proposal. Her expertise as a costume historian gives her a unique perspective on the dressmakers’ tragic stories that I’m sure will resonate with readers all over the world.”