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HQ wins auction for Flynn's 'deliciously provocative' adult debut
HQ has triumphed in a five-way auction for the “deliciously provocative” debut adult novel from Laurie Elizabeth Flynn.
Editorial director Emily Kitchin acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Sophie Lambert at C&W in a two-book deal. The Girls Are All So Nice Here will be published in hardback, trade paperback and e-book in April 2021.
US rights to the book were sold in a seven-way auction to Simon & Schuster, with a separate pre-empt for Canadian rights from Simon & Schuster Canada, by Hillary Jacobson at ICM. Deals in a string of other territories have been completed and TV rights have been sold to AMC by Josie Freedman at ICM.
The Girls Are All So Nice Here follows the disturbing events that take place when two former best friends attend their 10-year college reunion at Wesleyan, a prestigious school for privileged “nice” girls.
The synopsis says: “The friends are convinced that no one knows about the terrible thing they did during their first year at Wesleyan, and that the secret is long-buried. But as the reunion progresses the shocking truth of what really happened that night is gradually peeled back, revealing that the consequences of their actions were more devastating than they could ever have imagined."
Canadian writer Flynn is the author of young adult novels Last Girl Lied To (Imprint) and All Eyes On Her (Imprint).
She said: “I’m so honoured and thrilled that The Girls Are All So Nice Here has found the perfect home with the incredible Emily Kitchin and the entire HQ team. I immediately resonated with their stunning vision for this book and could tell how deeply they understood the story I wanted to tell.”
Kitchin added: “The Girls Are All So Nice Here is one of the most deliciously provocative novels I’ve ever read: it’s a grown-up 'Mean Girls', but bloodier and more disturbing. Full of heady intensity and darkly seductive atmosphere, it plunges the reader into a world of obsessive female friendship and exposes the brutal lengths that girls will go to, to fit in and to exact revenge.”
Lambert commented: “This is a truly read-in-a-single-sitting, addictive, dark and brilliantly executed novel, and in Emily Kitchin and the HQ team I know Laurie has champions who will ensure that it lands with the bang it deserves."
