Oneworld scoops up latest novel by Miles Franklin Award-winner Melissa Lucashenko 

Oneworld Publications has acquired Edenglassie, the new novel by Miles Franklin Award-winner Melissa Lucashenko.

Juliet Mabey bought world English-language rights, excluding ANZ but including audio, from Erin Sandiford at University of Queensland Press. The book will be published as a superlead title in July 2025 in the UK, with US publication to follow in September.

The synopsis states: "When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Brisbane – or Edenglassie, as the original penal colony was once briefly known – First Nations people still outnumbered colonial settlers. But as unrest tears through the region, Mulanyin’s love for his young bride clashes with his loyalty to a homeland in danger. Two centuries later, we meet activist Winona and the irascible Granny Eddie, bringing Mulanyin and Nita’s story crashing into the present day."

Publication will be supported by an author tour, exclusive editions for Waterstones and signed first editions for indie bookshops. Lucashenko, who is a Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage, said: "Edenglassie is a novel of fierce and compelling Aboriginal love. It’s also a missive from Aboriginal Country, speaking back to those who tried very hard to engineer our destruction. I wrote this novel of humour, heartbreak and joy to show that we are still here, and we love and live on ancestral lands as we always have."

Mabey said: "I’ve been looking for a First Nations author for Oneworld’s slate of international fiction for a long time, and so I’m pleased to have found a voice as fresh, urgent and exciting as Melissa’s."