Transworld snaps up ‘seductive, twisting’ début from Bischoff in six-figure pre-empt

Transworld has snapped up a “seductive, twisting” début novel from Sash Bischoff in a six-figure pre-empt.  

Imogen Nelson, commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Sweet Fury from Suzannah Ball at WME. Transworld will publish Sweet Fury as a lead début in Bantam hardback, e-book and audio in early 2025.  

Carina Guiterman at Simon & Schuster acquired US rights from Suzanne Gluck and Andrea Blatt at auction, and Nita Provonost at Simon & Schuster will publish in Canada. Rights have also sold to Companhia das Letras (Brazil) in a pre-empt, Otava (Finland), HarperFrance (France) at auction, Fischer (Germany) in a pre-empt, AW Bruna (Holland), Libri (Hungary), Keter (Israel) in a pre-empt, Mondadori (Italy) at auction, Hayakawa (Japan), Gyldendal Norsk (Norway) at auction, Trei (Romania), AST (Russia) and Alfaguara (Spain/Latin America) at auction, all by Caitlin Mahony at WME. 

The book is billed as a “seductive, twisting tale of obsession, rage and revenge”, which follows famous film actress Lila Crayne as she starts therapy to help prepare for the leading role in a feminist adaptation of Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. “But when Lila’s impeccably manicured life begins to unravel during their sessions, her therapist is just the man to pick up the pieces, unwittingly triggering a deadly game of revenge in which everyone, on screen and off, plays a part,” Transworld teased. 

Nelson said: “Sweet Fury is provocative, glamorous and endlessly surprising, with a pulsing darkness at its heart. It is full of delicious references to both the literary and film worlds, and so cleverly subverts the reader’s expectations through a series of twists that each caught me thoroughly off guard – I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough! We can’t wait to bring Sash’s astonishing début novel to market.” 

Bischoff added: “I am thrilled and humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response from Transworld, Simon & Schuster, and publishing houses around the world. I feel so lucky to have been welcomed into the Transworld family, and in particular to be working with my brilliant editor, Imogen. Between Transworld’s support, the guidance of my whip-smart team at WME – led by Suzanne Gluck and Andrea Blatt – and the partnership with my dream editor at Simon & Schuster, Carina Guiterman, I truly couldn’t have found a better team to bring Sweet Fury to the world in 2025.” 

Bischoff is a writer and director. She attended Princeton University, where she trained under Jeffrey Eugenides and Joyce Carol Oates, won Princeton’s Creative Writing Fiction Award, and founded the Princeton Writers Group. She has written numerous plays that have been developed at theatres throughout the US, and has held residencies at Ragdale, PLAYA, the Albee Foundation, Caldera and Sirenland Writers Workshop. As a director, she has worked on Broadway and Off. She grew up as an actor, and won the National Arts Award (NFAA) for Acting.