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Transworld announces new and ‘deeply personal’ novella by Sophie Kinsella
Transworld has announced a new and “deeply personal” novella from Sophie Kinsella entitled What Does It Feel Like?, which follows Eve, a renowned novelist facing a devastating cancer diagnosis and learning to live and love anew.
The news follows Kinsella’s announcement in April that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. UK and Commonwealth rights were bought by Bill Scott-Kerr and Sarah Adams from Araminta Whitley and Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency. The book will be published in hardback on 10th October.
What Does It Feel Like? follows Eve, a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumour growing in her brain.
As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again — and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children — she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights and always buying that dress when she sees it.
Recounted in brief anecdotes, the publisher’s description continues, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief.
Kinsella said: “What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story. Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”
Kinsella’s editor, publisher Sarah Adams, said: “To say we are proud to be publishing What Does it Feel Like? would be an understatement. It is an extraordinary, brave piece of writing which leaves you laughing through the tears. Only Sophie could create such particular and intoxicating warmth and humour out of a devastating situation. It is a real privilege for Transworld to bring our hearts and minds to this special publication and we can’t wait to share it far and wide this Autumn.”
