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Oneworld has snapped up the “stunning” début novel from Ruthvika Rao, The Fertile Earth.
Publisher Juliet Mabey acquired UK and British Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada and the Indian subcontinent, from Jennifer Bernstein at the Wylie Agency. The Fertile Earth will be published as a lead fiction title in September 2024 with Flatiron publishing in North America and Penguin in India.
Rao’s novel follows Vijaya and Krishna, born into different castes in Irumi, a village in 1950s India. The synopsis continues: “The nascent – and forbidden – friendship between the two is torn apart by a life-changing accident that sends them to different corners of India. But as the far-left Naxalite movement sweeps across parts of the country, the pair are drawn inexorably back to one another, and to Irumi, with all of the dangers it still holds.”
Mabey said: “The whole team at Oneworld were swept up in Ruthvika’s stunning first novel, which manages to be at once fiercely political and headily romantic. Ruthvika is a major literary talent, and it’s wonderful to have her on our list.”
Rao added: “I’m delighted to be a part of Oneworld’s list. From the very beginning, Juliet’s enthusiasm for the novel has blown me away, and I can’t imagine a better home for The Fertile Earth.”