Doubleday pre-empts Mariam Rahmani's 'ingenious' romcom

Doubleday has pre-empted Liquid, A Love Story, Mariam Rahmani’s "ingenious" rom-com.

Senior commissioning editor Bobby Mostyn-Owen pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Laura Mamelok at Algonquin Books on behalf of Danielle Bukowski at Sterling Lord. Doubleday will publish in hardback in the UK in May 2025. Kathy Pories at Algonquin will publish in North America in March 2025.

"Our protagonist always believed herself to be the smartest person in the room," the synopsis reads. "But a couple of years on from earning a fancy PhD, she’s still broke, single and stuck in a job going nowhere. One option remains: marry rich."

It adds: "Her summer becomes a whirlwind of dating: martinis with a lazy heir, board games with a butch producer and a Venmo request from a ‘socialist’ trust-fund babe. However, when some unexpected and tragic news takes her – and her project – to Tehran, she is forced to ask and answer some overdue questions about family, connection and, terrifyingly, her own purpose in life and in love."

Mostyn-Owen said: "At first glance Liquid, A Love Story starts with a familiar premise (100 dates over one summer) and a familiar voice (dissatisfied nameless millennial). But this novel defies all expectations and instead takes its readers on a surprising journey, including one of the best rug-pulls I have come across in contemporary fiction."

Rahmani added: "After spending some time in the UK at a formative moment in my life and education, I so wanted this book to have the opportunity to connect with readers there. A global sensibility is crucial to this story, and I’m so glad to have found a home for Liquid, A Love Story outside the US with Doubleday."