MJ signs Swedish bestseller in six-figure deal

Michael Joseph has welcomed Swedish bestseller Fredrik Backman to its list in a six-figure deal. 

Backman, previously published in the UK by Sceptre, is the author of Swedish hit A Man Called Ove (Sceptre), the film adaptation of which is currently on UK cinema screens.

Jessica Leeke, publisher at Michael Joseph, acquired three novels and a novella by Backman in the deal done with Tor Jonasson at the Salomonsson Agency.

The first book in the deal, The Scandal, is set in Beartown, a small Swedish town nestled deep in the forest, where a terrible crime fractures the local community. It is being adapted for television by the team behind "The Bridge" and will be published by Michael Joseph on 10th August. It published in the US with S&S as Beartown in April earlier this year.

Leeke, who praised Backman for his "distinctive voice" and for writing "incredibly universal stories in which human connection is everything", said the novel would be "a departure" from the author's past work.

"Fredrik has such a distinctive voice but he writes incredibly universal stories in which human connection is everything," she said. "Though this new novel is something of a departure from his previous work, he still draws with remarkable precision and empathy on a cast of characters grappling with themselves in different stages of life."

The author will be in the UK for publication and will be on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book on 13th and 17th August.