Pontas has always had a strong presence in France and this year is no different. Several Pontas clients have books coming out in France during the buzzy Rentrée Littéraire 2024 and we couldn’t be more excited!
Spanish author Dolores Redondo’s bestselling 2022 novel AWAITING THE FLOOD (ESPERANDO AL DILUVIO) is now out in France with Gallimard, in their Série Noire collection. You'll find it stacked high on the crime tables of French bookshops. The novel, which sold over 300.000 copies in Spanish in under a year, has now been translated into several languages and audiovisual rights have been optioned by Zebra Producciones/iZen, part of Newen Studios.
Another Spanish-language book that has just been translated into French is the 2023 Alfaguara Prize-winning ONE HUNDRED GUINEA PIGS (CIEN CUYES) by Peruvian author Gustavo Rodríguez. A beautiful and funny rumination about old age, companionship, and euthanasia, Éditions de l’Observatoire have published it under the title Eufrasia Vela et les Sept Mercenaires and it is looking stunning on Paris’ bookshops’ tables. This is the first translation of the novel to be published, with editions in English, Greek, Italian, and Arabic on their way!
French author Olivier Truc has also brought readers new material for this Rentrée. The fifth and final volume in his Reindeer Police Pentalogy has finally been published by Éditions Métailié under the title THE FIRST REINDEER (LE PREMIER RENNE). With this volume, Olivier Truc concludes a series which he started over 10 years ago, with Forty Days without Shadow which has enthralled thousands of readers worldwide. All translation and audiovisual rights are available.
Fellow French author Luce Michel has also published a new installment in her recent cozy noir series, The Bus Stop Mystery Club Series (La bande de l'abribus)! Book #2, VILLAINY AT THE VILLA (SALE TEMPS POUR LES FAISANS) will be published on September 4th with Black Lab/Hachette Livre. Luce Michel swaps the private mental health clinic in book #1 for the lush Villa Larsen in the South of France where new mysteries await.
Aside from the Rentrée Littéraire, there are other Pontas authors publishing books in August. Forensic anthropologist Clea Koff, the author of the international bestselling memoir THE BONE WOMAN has made a splash in crime fiction with the publication of SILENT EVIDENCE by Avon/HarperCollins. SILENT EVIDENCE starts a new major crime series featuring Jayne Hall and Steelie Lander, who have founded Agency 32/1 with one purpose in mind: using their specialist forensic skills to help police solve crimes. The novel has been published in the UK and will be published in the US in January of 2025. The second novel in the series, DEADLY EVIDENCE is slated for an April 2025 release. Translation rights have been sold into French (Éditions Helöise d’Ormesson) and Russian (Eksmo), and audiovisual rights have been optioned by an American producer. All other translation rights are currently available.
Last but not least, in Catalan, Laia Aguilar published her third novel for adults, ALL THOSE SEAS (TOTS AQUELLS MARS) with Columna, and translated into Spanish with Destino. The novel is set on the beautiful island of Formentera and follows Greta, who returns to her childhood place for the first time since a horrific tragedy shook her family. All other translation rights and audiovisual rights are currently available.
For more information about any of the above titles, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).