Scribner signs Andrukhovych's 'incredible novel'

Simon & Schuster UK (S&S UK) has bought a “literary tour-de-force" by Ukrainian author Sofia Andrukhovych entitled Amadoca.

Scribner UK’s editorial director Chris White acquired world English Language rights from Elianna Kan at Regal Hoffman & Associates who handled rights on behalf of Ukrainian publisher Old Lion.

This was a joint acquisition with Lauren Wein, v.p. and editorial director at Avid Reader Press, a division of S&S US. The first volume of Amadoca will be published in hardback on the Scribner imprint in 2025.

Scribner said: “With its vast historic scope, the novel, already a sensation in Ukraine and with rights having sold in 15 territories, is set to become landmark literary publication around the world.”

The blurb reads: “Encompassing much of 20th and 21st century Ukrainian history, Amadoca traces events from the Holodomor – also known as the Great Ukrainian Grain Famine – of the 1930s right up to the 2014 war in the Donbas [in Eastern Ukraine]."

Written before the present war, Scribner said the novel "brilliantly and poetically portrays the historic and personal events that form the backdrop of the current conflict”.

White said: “What an extraordinary honour it is to be publishing this incredible novel: a literary tour-de-force that illuminates the history of a country of singular importance to the world in which we currently live. I am excited to be teaming up with Lauren and working with Elianna. Together I am confident that we will give Amadoca the publication it deserves on both sides of the Atlantic."

Andrukhovych said: “My novel is a preface to what is happening today. We made the mistake of forgetting too quickly. And that’s why we’re being forced to live through certain situations again and again.”

Scribner said: “Part of the novel’s power is its resistance to simplifying Ukraine’s complex history. Andrukhovych’s characters are complex and deeply human, not merely passive victims of a relentless war.”

Andrukhovych added: “I did not want to portray Ukrainians as saints or only as victims.”

The author was born in 1982 in Western Ukraine. She was awarded the BBC Ukrainian Book of the Year Award and is the author of five previous books. Amadoca was recently awarded the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter’s Novel prize and translation of the novel will be supported by UJE and Razom, a Ukrainian-American non-profit organisation.

Her father, Yuri Andrukhovych, is one of Ukraine’s most well-known writers.