The Borough Press wins five-way auction for Aisling Rawle’s dark reality TV satire

The Borough Press emerged victorious in the five-way auction for ex-bookseller Aisling Rawle’s debut Easy Living, a dark literary satire about a reality TV show.

Suzie Dooré, editor-at-large, and Beth Coates, publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Rachel Mann at CAA. In the US it will be published by Random House as part of a deal with Mollie Glick of CAA.

Easy Living follows Lily and the rest of the cast of an unnamed dating show in a compound surrounded by inhospitable desert. As the contestants fall one by one, it becomes clear that there is more to the competition than just completing tasks, for which they receive consumer goods, and finding a romantic match.

The book is described by Rawle as “a dark satire of reality television". She added that “Borough Press are the perfect home to bring this book to life”.

Dooré said: ‘When the team first met Aisling to discuss Easy Living, we had great discussions about high versus low culture, and the fact that for all its detractors, reality TV reflects some unpleasant truths about human nature – that’s what makes it such compelling and uncomfortable viewing. This is so much more than a ‘Love Island book’ – it’s dark, compelling and has a lot to say about the world we live in.”

Rawle is an ex-bookseller from the West of Ireland, and now works as teacher in Dublin.