Bloomsbury lands Hasan's 'troubling and entertaining' novel in three-way auction

Bloomsbury has seized History’s Angel by Anjum Hasan, after triumphing in a three-way auction for the novel.

Literary and translations publisher at Bloomsbury India, Sivapriya R, acquired world all-language rights from Jacaranda Literary Agency. The novel will be a worldwide publication for Bloomsbury, with Allegra Le Fanu acting as the editor in the UK and Grace McNamee editing in the US. Publication is currently planned for summer 2023.

"Alif is a middle-aged, mild-mannered school teacher of history, living at a time when Muslims in India are seen either as hapless victims or hostile aggressors," the synopsis explains. "His profession sees him occupied with the past, but the present weighs heavily on him. One day, on a school trip to a glorious Mughal monument, a Hindu student needles Alif about being Muslim. In a fit of anger, he twists the boy’s ear. Suddenly Alif is out of a job. His life descends into chaos. His home city, too, is engulfed by the shadow of violence."

Hasan is the author of three novels and two short-story collections, which have been shortlisted for the Indian Academy of Letters Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Hindu Best Fiction Award and the Crossword Fiction Award. She was longlisted for the Man Asia Literary Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. 

"I am absolutely thrilled that that everyone at Bloomsbury and Jacaranda have put their faith in History’s Angel," she said. "It’s a strange and lonely time to be a thinking person in India and I’m fighting my corner as a novelist here, asking what happens if people still cling to those once-vaunted novelistic qualities—irresponsible day dreaming, intellectual pride, ethical doubt and love of language."

R added: "Anjum Hasan is one of the best Indian writers at work now. Her writing is unflashy and lovely, marked by clarity of thought and depth of feeling. History’s Angel captures the glory and gloom of India past and present like no other novel. We are incredibly excited for it at Bloomsbury. It is not often we get to publish a novel that is engrossing, troubling and entertaining in equal measure."