Indigo Press acquires Weber's epic poem about French heroine

The Indigo Press has landed Epic Annette: A Heroine’s Tale, a novel in verse by Anne Weber, translated by Tess Lewis. 

Written in the form of an epic poem, the 2020 German Book Prize winner tells the real story of Anne (Annette) Beaumanoir. Born in 1923 in Brittany, she joined the French youth communist faction and the French resistance, and rescued two Jewish children in the Second World War, among other acts of rebellion. Believing passionately in resistance as a political act against the follies of capitalism and colonialism, she then fought in Algeria against the French army which she saw as replicating the crimes of the Germans in France. Tried and imprisoned while pregnant with her third child, she escaped and supported the government of Ben Bella. A doctor and neuropsychologist, she subsequently set up a specialist clinic in Switzerland, and still lives in Brittany. 

Commissioning editor Susie Nicklin acquired world English rights from Matthes & Seitz Berlin, for publication on 25th August 2022. 

Nicklin said: "In the autumn of 2020 I was in Berlin, thinking about heroism and resistance in the context of a renewed threat from far right groups such as the AfD. The literary world was discussing the brilliant winner of the German Book Prize, and its examination of how individuals create their own moral compass in a world of contradictions. I was delighted to acquire the English rights, and it has been a pleasure to work with Tess and Anne to create our edition for new audiences."

The book was written in German and rewritten in French by the author. Lewis (pictured, right) has worked with both versions, synthesising them into a "lyrical" English-language novel in verse. The book has sold more than 120,000 copies in German according to the publisher, with rights sold in 14 languages. 

Weber said of Beaumanoir: "When I met Annette by chance, I had a kind of coup de foudre. A real heroine! How do you tell the life of a heroine? I remembered that there was an ancient literary form in which the daring feats of—hitherto male—heroes were sung about: the epic. I am delighted that the English-speaking world can now also read Annette’s story, and hear her song."