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Hodder & Stoughton has signed two new thrillers from Welsh author Fflur Dafydd, the first an English-language reimagining of her award-winning novel Y Llyfrgell translated as The Library Suicides.
Beth Wickington, commissioning editor of the crime and thriller list, secured world English Language rights from Euan Thorneycroft at A M Heath.
Y Llyfrgell, written in Welsh and published in 2009, won the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize and was made into a film in 2016. Dafydd became an International Fellow of the Hay Festival following her win for the Emerging Writer award at the festival in 2009.
The publisher’s synopsis of The Library Suicides reads: “In the National Library where they work, twins Ana and Nan are plotting their revenge. They have reason to believe that their mother’s recent death—seemingly suicide—was actually murder at the hands of Eben, the biographer of her writing career.
“When he visits the library for further research, the twins take action—ocking down the building and trapping Eben and countless others inside. But when one rogue security guard starts freeing captives, Ana, Nan and Eben find themselves confronting their greatest fears. Enclosed within the walls of the prestigious National Library, in a country where paper is a precious commodity so all text is now digital, The Library Suicides is a smart thriller that is not only heart-thumping but also thought-provoking.”
Wickington said: “Just like the unlucky bystanders in this high-stakes, locked-room thriller, I was kept utterly captive by The Library Suicides. Beautifully written, dripping with suspense and with the genius setting of a locked-down National Library, I know this will be a new favourite novel of thriller fans and bookish people who love bookish books everywhere.
“Fflur is such a dazzling talent brimming with clever ideas.”
Dafydd said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining such a prestigious list and it’s wonderful to find such a special editor in Bethany Wickington, who has a real vision for the novel and its readership. It’s a book very close to my heart, that I’ve been working on for a very long time, and I feel very lucky indeed to have found such a wonderful, world-class home for it at Hodder.”