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Verve Books lands Appachana's first novel in 20 years
Verve Books has landed Anjana Appachana’s "radiant" novel Fear and Lovely, her first novel in more than 20 years.
Editor Jenna Gordon acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Olivia Martin at United Agents. The novel will be published in January 2023 in hardback alongside a limited-edition hardback featuring an exclusive cover design and signed bookplate.
Appachana’s backlist includes 1991’s Incantations and Other Stories (Virago) and 1998’s Listening Now (Random House). Her work has also been included in Mirrorwork: Fifty Years of Indian Writing (Picador) edited by Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West.
Fear and Lovely is set during the 1970s in a "lively, close-knit, sometimes stifling" New Delhi colony and follows Mallika as she recovers from a major depressive disorder while hiding her illness from her community. The publisher wrote: "As irreverent and funny as it is serious and anguished, it is a story of love, longing, terror and healing, told from the perspectives of Mallika and the seven people closest to her — all of whom have struggles and secrets of their own."
"Appachana’s writing is radiant and tender as she paints a vivid portrait of certain people at a certain time in a certain place – of the events, emotions and values that draw them together and pull them apart," said Gordon. "Her characters jump off the page, and the unexpected turns of their intertwining stories remain with you well after you’ve closed the book. Fear and Lovely is a delight, and I can’t wait to share it with readers."
Appachana commented: "It’s been a joy working with Verve, and I’m delighted to be published by them – they understand my work so deeply and are wonderfully invested in the book. The title of the novel is a play on ’Fair and Lovely’ skin lightening cream (which is sold across Asia and has been renamed to in the wake of criticism of the cream’s branding). Both fair and fear resonate in the stories of the eight characters. As for ’lovely’, the reader will know best."
