Virago seizes Megan Abbott's tale of female ambition

Virago has acquired two new novels from Megan Abbott, the author behind Dare Me and You Will Know Me (Picador), including a thriller about female ambition.

Publisher Sarah Savitt bought UK and Commonwealth rights in El Dorado and a further untitled novel from Peggy Boulos Smith at Writers House on behalf of Dan Conaway at Writers House. 

Due to publish in 2020, El Dorado tells the story of the rise and fall of two remarkable women: mentor and protégée, mother and prodigal daughter. The second novel in the two-book deal will follow in 2022.

Welcoming Abbott to the list, Savitt said she'd been a huge fan of Abbot's "deliciously dark, sharp and thrilling" fiction for years and that she was "particularly brilliant on girls, women, their bodies and their complex relationships".

Abbott said: "I'm thrilled beyond measure to be working with Sarah Savitt and Virago, which has been the home of so many of my most beloved authors, from Angela Carter to Sarah Waters. It's an honor to be a part of such a vital tradition - perhaps more vital now than ever."

Abbott has written nine novels, five of which (Give Me Your Hand, You Will Know Me, The Fever, Dare Me and The End of Eveything) with Picador. Before that she was published by Simon & Schuster. She is formerly a writer on HBO’s David Simon TV show "The Deuce" and is currently adapting her novel "Dare Me" for television. Her latest novel is Give Me Your Hand (Picador).