Gollancz scoops 'haunting and alluring' Gothic horror debut from Isabela Livino

Gollancz has scooped the "haunting and alluring" Gothic horror from debut author Isabela Livino. Millie Prestidge acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to Shadows Falsely Seen from Suzannah Ball at WME. North American rights were sold to Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House US, by Caitlin Mahony. Rights have currently sold to Editions LeDuc (France), to Foksal (Poland), and to Bookzone (Romania). Dutton and Gollancz will publish the book simultaneously in Autumn 2026.

Shadows Falsely Seen is set in 1875 in Pernambuco, Brazil and follows Madalena, who has been raised in a deeply religious household, knows Dante’s Inferno by heart and "fears her mother’s reaction as much as she fears God".

The synopsis continues: "When she falls pregnant with a child conceived in sin, her mother issues a threat: marry or surrender the baby. But before Madalena gets a chance to tell the father, the pair end up in a tragic carriage accident. Forced to stay for three days at his secluded, sprawling, home, instead of growing close to her child’s father, Madalena is drawn to a charismatic physician. But as madness ensues, it soon becomes clear they all have secrets to take to the grave."

Livino was born in Pernambuco and spent her childhood there before moving to Connecticut, where she now lives. She holds degrees in philosophy and human-computer interaction and by day she works as a product designer in the tech industry.