'Irresistible' Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier to W&N

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired a debut, Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier by Britta Röstlund.

Sophie Buchan, senior commissioning editor at W&N, bought world English rights from Catherine Mörk at the Nordstedts Agency. French rights have sold to JC Lattès and German rights to Blanvalet. It will be published in Sweden in September this year as Norstedts’ "super lead" title.

Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier is a novel about "strange awakenings and even stranger possibilities". Set in Montmartre, it follows two people - both "downtrodden by life" - who accept missions from strangers against their better judgement. These missions will take them from mysterious, abandoned offices to places which hold the secrets of the dead, and finally lead them back to themselves. The novel combines warmth with "a delicious sense of opportunity", according to the publisher, which said it is ultimately "about living life more fully".

Buchan said: "Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier invites comparisons to Jonas Jonasson, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and Amélie but has a charm and a wit which are very much its own. It has an irresistibly twisty plot and a joyous take on the mysteries of life."

Röstlund said: "I am overjoyed and grateful for the reactions from publishers worldwide. Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier has been part of my life for years now, and I can’t wait for other people to discover it. I have been welcomed to Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the very best way; and I’m so proud to be added to their list of fantastic authors."

Röstlund is a freelance journalist for Swedish media living in Paris. Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier is her first novel.