MacLehose Press scoops Norwegian 'rights sensation' thriller

MacLehose Press will publish “international rights sensation” domestic noir The Therapist by psychologist turned author Helene Flood. It will be the imprint’s lead thriller debut for 2021.  

Former publisher Christopher MacLehose acquired world English language rights from Annette Orre at the Oslo Literary Agency, with editor Paul Engles taking over following MacLehose's departure. The Canadian edition will be published by House of Anansi. The Therapist will be published by MacLehose Press on 8th July 2021. The launch will include a major international marketing and publicity campaign, making it a company focus title for the year. 

MacLehose Press said of the domestic thriller, translated into English by Alison McCullough: “A psychologist by trade, Flood has x-ray vision for the human heart, bringing a piercing authenticity to her debut and offering readers genuine emotional depth and a double twist they won't see coming.”  

Originally published in Norway in 2019, rights have now been sold in more than 28 languages with more than 150,000 copies sold in Norway, Sweden and Spain. Film rights have been bought by production company Anonymous Content. The book has won the 2020 Mauritz Hansen Prize for best Norwegian Crime Debut and was nominated for the Swedish Book of the Year 2020 and the 2019 Norwegian Bookseller’s Prize.  

Engles said of the deal: “Twisty, creepy and compulsive, The Therapist has a voice that’s as easy to slip into as a pair of working from home joggers. Helene Flood reveals the vulnerabilities that lie behind a therapist’s mask of calm, collected appraisal, and the way she sifts through the debris of broken relationships leaves you feeling that she has access to your most private memories.” 

Flood said: “From the moment the idea for The Therapist appeared, I knew that I wanted to use the genre to explore the dark side of our relationships. As a psychologist, I have always been fascinated by this; it is something that often comes to the fore when we struggle, and it’s a moving force behind so much of what we do. In the end, it is deeply human.” 

Orre commented: “As soon as I started reading The Therapist, I knew I had come across a unique literary voice and an author with rare insight into the darkest, most hidden corners of the human mind. Both the author and I are convinced that MacLehose Press is the perfect home for it.”