Photo: Richard Loncraine
Selina Walker of Cornerstone has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in a remarkable debut novel, Interviews with an Ape by Felice Fallon, about a gorilla called Einstein who comes to us with an extraordinary secret: he can communicate with humans through sign language. Rights were acquired from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann.
Walker describes Interviews with an Ape as a ‘truly original novel, a series of interlinked stories told by a group of animals and the people who care for or exploit them. It’s a story about all of us – animals and humans – a tale of triumph and defeat, of hope over despair, and our infinite capacities to endure, to love, and to survive through the stories we tell. A work of imaginative daring, it’s written with a direct simplicity as well as a deep insight into the animal kingdom and the natural world around us.’
Felice Fallon says: ‘My primary objective is to tell a good story, and one that will lend a new perspective about the world around us. I hope the characters, both animal and human, succeed in doing this by relating to the reader in their own words and voices their unique stories.’
Isobel Dixon says: ‘Felice Fallon writes with such empathy, humour and love – her absorbing debut, Interviews with an Ape, is a transformative reading experience and I’m so thrilled that through Selina Walker’s publishing vision it will be shared with a wide audience.’
Interviews with an Ape will be published in hardback by Century in July 2021, and comes with an advance quote from Michael Palin who calls it ‘an unusually powerful novel, and a timely one too.’
About Felice Fallon
Felice Fallon was born in Los Angeles, California and worked in advertising in New York before moving to London to marry and raise a family. In her mid-fifties she read history, politics and philosophy at Birkbeck. She has written screenplays, but Interviews with an Ape is her first novel.