• Reptile Memoirs is a new and brilliantly unusual crime thriller that was a major bestseller in Norway and will appeal both to readers of traditional Scandinavian crime as well as to literary readers.
• Grove preempted the novel after major in-house support, joining a raft of international publishers in twelve languages from thirteen territories. Jacob Søndergaard, publisher of Gutkind in Denmark calls it "a stranglehold of a thriller [that] sets a new standard," and Regina Kamerer at BTB Random House in Germany adds that it is "unusual, complex, wild, erotic, new, and challenging in every respect. A must-read." Many of Ulstein's acquiring editors-including the Italian editor of Stieg Larsson and the Norwegian editor of Jo Nesbø-noted that Reptile Memoirs announces the arrival of a refreshing and totally fresh wave in Scandinavian crime.
• We hope for profile and feature attention for this exciting new international writer. Grove's acquisition has already been the subject of an evening news story on NRK, Norway's biggest nightly news channel, and featured the first virtual "meeting" of Ulstein and her American editor, Peter Blackstock.
• We will submit this novel for Indies Introduce and get started early on marketing plans, as well as early blurber outreach to people like Kate Atkinson, Alex Michaelides, Paula Hawkins, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Emily Fridlund, Celeste Ng, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Daisy Johnson, and Rachel Yoder.
• We are publishing on the Grove list in the UK, where all team members are incredibly passionate and excited to make this a major lead title.
• Reptile Memoirs was selected as one of ten titles for "Books at Berlinale," which highlights international titles that are particularly well-suited to screen adaptation. There is early film and TV interest, including from the states.
• This is Silje Ulstein's debut novel, and her rare talent is immediately evident on the page. Reptile Memoirs skillfully combines page-turning energy and suspense with weighty ruminations on abuse, trauma, guilt, and grief, while also managing to incorporate deft humor in surprising places.
• We are working with the translator Alison McCullough, who has rendered the novel in English with incredible fluidity and care.