Union Square & Co pre-empts US rights to Rajasree Variyar’s THE DAUGHTERS OF MADURAI
US rights to Rajasree Variyar’s debut novel, The Daughters of Madurai, have been pre-empted by Claire Wachtel at Union Square & Co.
Spanning across 1990s South India and present-day Australia, The Daughters of Madurai follows two women - a young mother who will do anything to protect her unborn daughter, and another who knows very little about where her family came from, or who they left behind. The deal was handled by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency on behalf of Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment, with international rights handled by Liza DeBlock.
The novel will be published by Orion in the UK and was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize in 2019.
Born in Bangalore and raised in Sydney, Australia, Variyar has been a Londoner for the past six years. Her short stories have won second prize in the Shooter Literary Magazine short story competition in 2019 and been longlisted for the Brick Lane Bookshop short story competition in 2020.
Madurai, 1992. A young mother in a poor family, Janani is told she is useless if she can't produce a son - or worse, bears daughters. They let her keep her first baby girl, but the rest are taken away as soon as they are born - murdered before they have a chance to live. The fate of her children has never been in her hands. But Janani can't forget the daughters she was never allowed to love.
Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret, one she's been keeping from her parents for far too long. Before she can say anything, her grandfather in India falls ill and she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai - the first in over ten years. Growing up in Australia, Nila knows very little about where she or her family came from, or who they left behind. What she's about to learn will change her forever...
Perfect for fans of Christy Lefteri and Delia Owens, The Daughters of Madurai is a moving and powerful debut from an unforgettable new voice.