Scribner acquires Anushka Joshi’s Starlet in 'major' pre-empt
Scribner, Simon & Schuster UK, has acquired Starlet, a "sweeping" debut imagining the life of Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s first South-Asian star.
Senior commissioning editor Joanna Lee bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein on behalf of Nicole Aragi at Aragi Inc.
US rights were acquired by Lashanda Anakwah at Tiny Reparations at auction. Translation rights have sold in France, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Spain.
The synopsis says: "It’s 1929, and Estelle Thompson is a showgirl in a seedy Bombay club. As a woman of mixed heritage, she’s denied the most basic things: work, love and acceptance. When the man she loves leaves her – unable to see past the fact of her dark-skinned mother Charlotte – mother and daughter hatch a plan to defy the prejudice of the time, and seek the life they’re owed."
The blurb adds: "Reinventing herself as white actress Merle Oberon, Estelle is welcomed into the glamour and riches of Hollywood. But this is the era of the Hays Code, when even an interracial kiss was forbidden onscreen, and across Europe, fascism was on the rise. To protect herself and those she loves, Estelle must keep everyone’s secrets – at any cost. In an age of pressing fear and unbridled prejudice, even the brightest starlets can’t shine forever."
Lee said: "This is storytelling at its very best: lush, transporting, immersive. Anushka has woven pure magic here in her re-imagining of Merle Oberon’s life, and Starlet is a story for the ages: of integrity against all odds, of the beauty of a life lived with bravery and love. I’m so excited to be bringing Anushka to the Scribner list, and to publish Starlet with the sparkle and glamour befitting such an icon."
Joshi added: "I was drawn to the resilient arc of Merle Oberon’s story since it reflects the journey of so many immigrant women of colour who made their way to America and became a part of its history through their art, navigating codes of censorship that are returning to us today across the world in the form of books being banned, writers silenced and art scrutinised for any hint of subversiveness. I have lived with this story and with these characters for almost a decade, and am thankful for the chance to share it now."
