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Granta Books has acquired History Keeps Me Awake At Night, the debut novel from South African-born Christy Edwall.
Deputy publishing director Laura Barber acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Anna Webber at United Agents for publication in spring 2023.
The debut will follow Margit, a woman who is at the point in life when things should have cohered. She’s married, she’s got a degree, she’s got friends who throw good parties, and yet she’s still adrift, moving from one precarious job to the next. When her eye is caught by the story of a group of missing Mexican students – the 43 ‘desaparecidos’ who were ambushed by police in 2014 and disappeared without a trace – an obsession begins. As she heads off down the rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs of Google Maps, her idiosyncratic quest to uncover the truth of what happened begins to eclipse pretty much everything else.
Barber commented: "There was such a buzz around Granta as we read Christy’s novel. The prose is crisp and smart, the voice is quirky, funny and compelling, and Margit is a character you feel for and want to befriend. But the novel also looks beyond the myopia of its protagonist to grapple with issues of class and money, Mexican politics, virtual rabbit holes, and the isolated, stratified nature of modern life. This is a piece of fiction that keeps you awake at night – and it’s one that stays with you the next day and for long after too."