Duckworth scoops 'gripping' new historical novel by Scott

Duckworth has scooped a “gripping” new historical novel by Anika Scott. 

Rowan Cope, publisher, secured UK and British Commonwealth rights for print and e-book for The Soviet Sisters from Laetitia Rutherford at Watson, Little. US rights were snapped up by Liz Stein at William Morrow and Italian rights have been sold to Casa Editrice Nord, also through Watson, Little. 

It will be published in the US on 12th July and in the UK on 14th July 2022. 

The novel tells the story of sisters Vera and Marya, brought up as good Soviets, who, fresh from combat on the Eastern Front, meet again in Occupied Berlin in 1947 and find themselves mired in the covert conflicts that are shaping a new world order. For at least one of them, it could all end in the gulag.  

Cope said: “Anika Scott has been deeply intrigued by real-life espionage and spy stories since her youth, even to the point of applying to join the CIA—until she discovered that it would preclude her first passion, writing fiction. Her abiding interest in that world and instinctive emotional understanding of its moral complexities shine through in this brilliantly compelling and twisty spy novel set in the divided Berlin of the immediate post-War period. We can’t wait to publish The Soviet Sisters, which is bound to be a hit with historical fiction readers, and we are delighted to welcome Anika to the list.” 

Scott added: “I’m a big fan of the UK’s great tradition of epic spy tales, and I’m excited British readers will get to join Vera in her investigation of Marya’s case, untangling the secrets of Stalinist Russia that bound the sisters together, and tore them apart.” 

Rutherford also commented: “Anika is an exceptionally compelling writer, and Duckworth is devising a very creative campaign to bring out The Soviet Sisters this summer.”