Scribner lands ‘incredibly powerful’ novel from Hall

Scribner has landed Reproduction, the “incredibly powerful” fourth novel by Louisa Hall. 

Publishing director Sophie Missing acquired UK and Commonwealth rights with audio from Kerry Glencorse at Susanna Lea Associates. The novel will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in summer 2023. 

Reproduction follows a woman who decides to write a novel about Mary Shelley and the summer of 1816 in Lake Geneva, where Shelley conceived Frankenstein. Parts of Shelley’s story begin to resonate with the narrator’s life and, as the end of her second pregnancy looms, she is unable to shake the feeling that her life has tilted towards science fiction. Finally, in “the surreal, altered state” of a third pregnancy, the reappearance of an old friend inspires the narrator to begin her own reproduction of the Frankenstein narrative. 

Missing said: “From the moment I started reading Reproduction I was hooked. Louisa Hall seamlessly blends memoir, literary biography and fiction to produce a short and incredibly powerful novel that interrogates the cost of creating life while also creating a form all of its own: not quite autofiction, but something new and fresh. The cool precision and elegance of her writing is pure pleasure, and it’s a privilege to welcome her to Scribner as my first acquisition for the list.” 

Hall added: “I wanted to write a book about the transformations involved in pregnancy and labour, sometimes wondrous, often terrifying, always beyond my comprehension. Reproduction is a deeply personal book for me, one that I’m very proud of, and I couldn’t possibly be happier that it’s found a home with Sophie Missing at Scribner.”