Kehlmann's Tyll to riverrun

Quercus imprint riverrun has acquired a new historical fiction novel by German-Austrian writer Daniel Kehlmann,Tyll, in a translation by Ross Benjamin.

The book, which has already sold 600,000 copies in Germany according to Quercus, will be published in hardback 6th Feburary 2020. UK and Commonwealth rights were bought from Knopf, and the publisher is releasing the book simultaneously under its Pantheon imprint in the US.

Tyll retells the myth of a famous folkloric figure of the same name, Tyll Ulenspiegel, in a world devastated by the Thirty Years’ War. According to Quercus it is marked by Kehlmann’s trademark dark humour while in Tyll readers will find "a hero for all time". A Netflix TV series based on the book has already been commissioned and is in production by Dark Ways (Baran Bo Odar and Jantje Friese), the producers behind Netflix's first German original, "Dark".

To promote the book's release, Kehlmann will be in the UK from 3rd February 2020. There will be a book launch at the German Embassy with Ian McEwan and an event at the British Library.

Jon Riley, publisher at riverrun, said: “We’re proud to have published Daniel Kehlmann since his worldwide bestseller Measuring The World. He is an irresistible storyteller, a novelist of ideas and a great entertainer. Tyll is the finest book yet from an author who is described as Germany’s greatest living writer.”