Oneworld falls for Gina Balibrera’s 'haunting’ Salvadoran epic

Oneworld Publications has snapped up The Volcano Daughters, a literary debut by Salvadoran-American author Gina Balibrera. 

Publisher Juliet Mabey and commissioning editor Polly Hatfield acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Niki Chang at David Higham, on behalf of Stephanie Delman at Trellis Literary Management, and Pantheon will publish in the US and Canada.

The book follows sisters Graciela and Consuelo from El Salvador in the wake of the country’s 1932 massacre. Oneworld described The Volcano Daughters as "hilarious, devastating and powerfully original, in the vein of the Latin American magical realist tradition but with a style and cadence entirely its own". The synopsis adds: "When the country’s brutal dictator unleashes a massacre that costs over 30,000 lives the girls are separated, leading very different lives, each believing the other to be dead until they are reunited in the most unlikely circumstances."

Mabey described Balibrera’s debut as "astonishing". She continued: "Gina is a formidable talent, and she writes with a confidence and passion that had me hooked from the start of her rich and immersive novel. I know readers will love Graciela, Consuelo and the chorus of unforgettable women who tell their story."

Balibrera added: "What a phenomenal honour it is for The Volcano Daughters to travel to the UK and beyond with the fantastic team at Oneworld. The book is about powerful women resisting forces of domination with care and creativity, and, especially in this moment in time, I’m grateful to Oneworld for offering my words to readers the world over."