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Faber is to publish Hilary Leichter's debut novel, Temporary.
Publisher Alex Bowler pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Claire Roberts at Claire Roberts Global Literary Management LLC, on behalf of Monika Woods of Triangle Literary.
Bowler said: "Wild, hopeful, infinitely funny and infinitely sad, Temporary is the smartest, most humane story of what it is to work and live, here and now. It's the work of a massive and inimitable new talent."
Described as "Alice in Wonderland set in the gig economy" by the New York Times, Temporary was released in the US in March, as the final publication from feminist indie press Emily Books. Earlier this month, it was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction's 2020 First Novel Prize.
The synopsis explains: "'There is nothing more personal than doing your job'. So goes the motto of the Temporary, as she takes job after job, in search of steadiness, belonging, and something to call her own. Aided by her bespoke agency and a cast of boyfriends – each allotted their own task (the handy boyfriend, the culinary boyfriend, the real estate boyfriend) – she is happy to fill in for any of us: for the chairman of the board, a ghost, a murderer, a mother. Even for you, and for me."
Leichter has been published in the New York Times, n+1, the New Yorker, the Cut, and Conjunctions. She teaches writing at Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She said: "I’m so thrilled to be published with Faber, and can’t wait for Temporary to arrive in the UK next year."
Publication is scheduled for 18th February 2021.