New Ishiguro novel coming in March 2021

Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017, will be published by Faber & Faber on 2nd March 2021.

Publisher Alex Bowler with editorial director Angus Cargill acquired UK & Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Peter Straus at RCW.

Alfred A Knopf in the US and Knopf in Canada will publish on the same date.

Faber said: "The novel tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans."

Cargill described Klara and the Sun as "stunning", and as "a novel about the human heart that speaks urgently to the here and now, but from another place".

He said: "As ever with Ishiguro’s writing, it manages to be both thrillingly surprising yet consistent with his whole body of work. I can’t wait for readers to discover the character of Klara and her world."

Publication will be "a global event", Faber said. 

Ishiguro's most recent novel was The Buried Giant in 2015, which sold152,227 copies in paperback and 43,482 in hardback via Nielsen BookScan's UK TCM. His total sales (since 1998) through the TCM are 1.9 million books sold for £13.5m.