Picador snaps up Arias' 'dazzling' first novel Where There Was Fire

Picador has snapped up John Manuel Arias’ "dazzling" first novel, Where There Was Fire.

Mary Mount bought UK and Commonwealth e-book and audiobook rights from Kerry Nordling at Flatiron Books in the US, and Picador will publish in spring 2024.

Arias is a queer, Costa Rican American poet and writer and his first novel is set in Costa Rica in the 1960s and the US 30 years later. Describing it as a "mesmerising" work, the publisher’s synopsis of the book says: "The story of a family trying to heal in the face of the devastation wrought by greed and secrecy".

Mount said: "From its very first page, Where There Was Fire announces the arrival of an incredible new voice in contemporary fiction. This is a novel that combines lyricism with a riveting plot. It is unforgettable."