Cordani's YA thriller goes to Atom

Little, Brown's teen imprint Atom has acquired two novels for young adults by Andreina Cordani, including a psychological YA thriller called The Girl Who… exploring the difficulty in talking about trauma.

Olivia Hutchings, commissioning editor at Atom Books, bought UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) and European rights from Lina Langlee at Kate Nash Literary Agency.

The Girl Who... centres on Leah, a girl who witnesses the seemingly random stabbing of her mother and sister as a child, and is brought up to be the British tabloid press’s poster child for innocence. But when an attitude of ‘it’s healthier to forgive’ gives no space for Leah to talk about her darker feelings, the raging anger she still feels builds, including a desire for revenge. 

Hutchings called Cordani’s YA debut "a sophisticated psychological thriller, with an addictive plot that keeps surprising you in each chapter" as well as "a powerful exploration into how we, as a society, struggle to talk about trauma – particularly in young people – in an effort to protect them".

"Andreina has written such a compelling, richly layered story and we’re thriller to be welcoming her to the list," she added.  

Cordani is a former features director at Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping and now freelances and reviews books for national publications. Commenting on the deal, she said: "After so long writing the book alone in snatches of spare time it’s wonderful to be able to work with a team who are just as excited about it as I am. I’m thrilled and can’t wait to get started!"

The Girl Who… will be published in September 2020, with a second YA novel coming the following year.