Dead Ink Books lands Card's 'stunning' debut

Dead Ink Books has landed Ania Card’s "stunning" debut book currently named Sea Calls Me Home. 

Commissioning editor Harriet Hirshman acquired world English language rights from Clare Coombes at the Liverpool Literary Agency. The book will be published in 2024.

Pitched as Channel 4’s "It’s a Sin" meets Normal People (Faber), Sea Calls Me Home deals with immigration, identity and mental health against the backdrop of Brexit Britain. 

Card commented: "I’m thrilled that Sea Calls Me Home has found a home with Dead Ink Books. As an immigrant writer, I feel lucky to be working on this Polish British story with such an exciting publisher championing the bold, experimental and underrepresented in new fiction. As always, huge thanks to my agent Clare Coombes for all her support and getting me here."

Hirshman said: "I was struck by the intricacy of the relationships in Ania’s writing. The sense of place in the novel is excellent, with the shifts between Cardiff, London and Poland feeling authentic and familiar. The novel’s politics are well weaved into the story; they manage to be striking without ever feeling preachy or secondary. This is a really stunning debut."