Bantam lands Yambao's 'spellbinding' fantasy novel in two-book deal
Transworld’s Bantam has landed a two-book deal with Samantha Sotto Yambao, including Water Moon, a fantasy novel pitched as "Erin Morgenstern meets Studio Ghibli’s ’Spirited Away’".
Frankie Gray, publisher at Bantam, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Rachel Kind at Penguin Random House US. Bantam will publish alongside Del Rey in the US in early 2025. Rights have been sold in Spain with ongoing auctions in Italy and Germany.
Water Moon will be Yambao’s UK debut and follows a woman who inherits a pawn shop in Tokyo where you can sell your regrets. But when the woman’s father disappears, she sets out to find him with the aid of a "charming" young physicist.
Gray said: "I was completely consumed and entranced by Water Moon. It is both a compulsive mystery and a beautiful love story and it has a unique, spellbinding quality: lyrical and ethereal. I’ve long loved magical realism and am delighted to have the honour of publishing such a stunning example."
Yambao added: "I am beyond thrilled that Water Moon has found a home at Transworld! I could not have asked for a more passionate team to work with to bring the story to the UK."
