Mantle pre-empts ‘extraordinary’ Gnodde début

Mantle has pre-empted The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, an “extraordinary” novel by Kara Gnodde, to be published as its lead début fiction title for 2023. 

Former associate publisher Sam Humphreys, who has since left Pan Macmillan, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding US and Canada, from Charlotte Seymour at Johnson & Alcock. Alice Gray has taken over as the book’s editor. The novel will be published in hardback, e-book and audio on 16th March 2023. US rights have gone to Emily Griffin at HarperCollins, and Canadian rights to Jennifer Lambert at HarperCanada. 

The book is billed as “a beautiful, warm-hearted and poignant story” about two siblings, Art and Mimi, who, bound by their parents’ tragic deaths, find themselves living together with their outlook aligned on not quite everything. 

Its synopsis explains: “The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything tells the story of Mimi, who is naturally curious and determined, but living a constrained life defined by her demanding maths genius brother. Art’s every move is dictated by routine and his pursuit to solve an important, but notoriously complicated maths problem. When Mimi decides to find love, Art does the only logical thing: sets a strict mathematical path for her quest. Then Mimi meets Frank – a spontaneous stargazer and a mathematician. But not algorithm approved. Over time, the siblings’ relationship is tested to breaking point – something about Frank doesn’t quite add up, and only Art can see it…” 

Gnodde commented: “In The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, the siblings are involved in a love triangle of sorts – with maths as its beating heart. Art tries to convince his beloved sister that the world can be navigated with rationality, anchored in numbers. But the bonds of family and the calculations of the heart can be determined to follow a logic of their own. It was immediately clear that Mantle was the right home for Mimi and Art: they were so enthusiastic about the off-beat, complicated siblings, and we agreed on the balance between family drama, love and the riff on maths. The editorial process has been a joy – the whole Mantle team is fantastic.” 

The publisher said: “Mantle will publish this extraordinary novel as its lead début fiction title for 2023, supported by an extensive marketing and publicity campaign. The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything is as quirky as The Rosie Project, as funny as Eleanor Oliphant, as romantic as The Flat Share, and as universal as the laws of mathematics. It is an intelligent, tender and uplifting novel about brothers and sisters, true love in all its forms, and a maths problem that could quite literally change the world overnight.”