Oneworld triumphs in five-way auction for Dunnett debut

Oneworld has triumphed in a five-way auction for Roisin Dunnett’s debut "literary timeslip" novel, A Line You Have Traced.

Publishing director Jenny Parrott acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Matthew Turner at RCW, and Oneworld will publish on its Magpie imprint in 2025. US rights have gone to Margot Atwell at The Feminist Press and Canadian rights to Amanda Betts at Knopf Canada at auction.

The synopsis says: "Braiding the stories of three women separated by history but threaded together by unknown forces, A Line You Have Traced is a stylish novel about kinship, family, queer love, faith, the climate crisis and time travel, asking questions about the meaning of fate and the mysterious forces at play within our lives."

Parrott commented: "This is an elegant, sophisticated, involving speculative novel from a genuinely exciting home-grown author who has a rare and wondrous vision. Three women in east London, although born many years apart, find their lives unexpectedly intertwined.

"The setting one of the protagonists inhabits is inspired by Roisin’s own family history, and I love the sensitive way she explores what it means to be a woman and, perhaps, an angel. Already there are wonderful endorsements from Francis Spufford and Rebecca Tamás."

Dunnett has written a fiction pamphlet, Animal, Vegetable (Broken Sleep Books), and her short fiction has been published in Prototype, Hotel, Ambit, Vittles and elsewhere. She has an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths She was also longlisted for the 2022 Pat Kavanagh Prize.

Dunnett added: "I’m absolutely delighted that Oneworld will be publishing A Line you Have Traced. The novel reflects my interest in how the personal relates to the political, and how to strive for utopia during frightening moments in history. Jenny so clearly understands the book’s intentions, and I can’t wait to work with her and the rest of the Oneworld team."