Gosling's 'remarkable' debut goes to Serpent's Tail

Serpent’s Tail has signed the “remarkable” debut novel by Victoria Gosling, a British author currently living in Berlin.

Rebecca Gray, associate publisher along with Leonora Craig Cohen, editorial assistant at Serpent’s Tail, acquired world rights to The Mysteries from Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton and will publish in summer 2020. The publisher described the novel as "remarkable".

Gosling is the founder of The Reader Berlin, hosting Berlin salon nights and writers’ retreats in Greece and Italy, as well as providing a raft of author services. In partnership with The Circus Hotel and the British Council, she also organises The Berlin Writing Prize.

She grew up in Wiltshire, studied English Literature at Manchester University and the University of Amsterdam, and has lived in London, Australia, Brazil and the Czech Republic. In 2008 she was shortlisted for the Mslexia Unpublished Novel Prize.

Gray and Craig Cohen said of the deal: "One long, hot summer Andy and her friends break into a crumbling mansion and begin a game that will take their whole lives to play out. The Mysteries is about hope, metamorphosis and escaping the prisons we create for ourselves. We loved the way Victoria wove together Andy’s complicated backstory with her quest in the present day – the novel is gripping, full of emotional wisdom and we couldn’t be more excited to have acquired it."

Gosling added: "It’s such a pleasure to work with editors Rebecca Gray and Leonora Craig Cohen and an honour to join Serpent’s Tail’s list of authors. I was inspired by classic story elements – the country house mystery, a jewel theft, an unexplained death – but I also wanted to write an unconventional love story dealing with class, addiction and consumerism."