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Canongate has signed an "epic novel for our anxiety-ridden times" by Victor LaValle titled The Changeling.
Senior commissioning editor Hannah Knowles acquired UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights in The Changeling from Joelle Dieu at Random House US.
One of TIME magazine’s top 10 novels of 2017, and one of New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2017, The Changeling is a "wild phantasmagoria, in which a book dealer's journey into parenthood takes a nightmarish turn", said the publisher.
When Apollo Kagwa was just a child, his father disappeared, leaving him with recurring nightmares and a box labelled 'Improbabilia'. Now a successful book dealer, Kagwa has a family of his own after meeting and falling in love with Emma, a librarian. The two marry and have a baby: so far so happy-ever-after. However, as the pair settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Emma's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, until one day she commits an unthinkable act, setting Apollo on a wild and fantastical quest through a suddenly otherworldly New York, in search of a wife and child he no longer recognises.
The Changeling is a tale of parenthood, love - in its most raw and brutal form - and ultimately, humanity.
LaValle is the author of six previous works of fiction. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Book Award, the Shirley Jackson Award and the Key to Southeast Queens.
LaValle said: "I’m wildly happy that The Changeling is coming to the UK readership and that I’m a part of the Canongate crew. This book is made to keep you up all night reading so you can blame me when you’re bad at your jobs the next day."
Knowles said: "Inside LaValle’s bewilderingly febrile imagination is a glorious place to be, and The Changeling sees him at his most dazzling. It’s an absolute privilege and a joy to be publishing this breath-taking feat of a book."
Canongate will publish in paperback format on 5th July.