Atlantic pre-empts Hayley Gelfuso’s speculative novel The Book of Lost Hours

Atlantic Fiction has pre-empted Hayley Gelfuso’s speculative novel, The Book of Lost Hours, in a joint offer with Allen & Unwin Australia.

In her first acquisition for Atlantic Fiction since moving from Cornerstone, Rachel Imrie pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, Australia and New Zealand, from Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton on behalf of Jennifer Weltz at Jean V Naggar Literary Agency, and the book will be published in hardback in autumn 2025.

Australia and New Zealand rights were bought by Alex Craig at Allen & Unwin Australia via Cole Hildebrand, while North American rights were bought by Simon & Schuster in the US and Canada. At the time of writing, translation rights have been sold in eight territories, with ongoing auctions in several other territories.

According to the synopsis: "Set between 1938 and 1965, The Book of Lost Hours is a sweeping, time-bending novel about family, love and memory. It centres on Lisavet who finds herself trapped in the ‘timespace’, a vast archive of the memories of everyone who has ever lived, where ‘timekeepers’ decide whose memories survive and whose are destroyed. Lisavet endeavours to save as many memories as she can, but when she falls in love with a timekeeper, the whole course of history could be at stake."

Imrie said: "Hayley’s novel is everything I want from a book: imaginative world-building, immersive storytelling and characters who you can’t help but fall for. Hayley offers erudite insights into history and collective memory, while always delivering on story."

Gelfuso added: "I’m absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Atlantic Books and Allen & Unwin to bring The Book of Lost Hours to readers in the UK and Australia. This story holds a special place in my heart, and I’m delighted to know that it will be in the very best of hands."