German and French publishers reject Martin Amis book

Martin Amis’ usual publishers in Germany and France have refused to publish his most recent novel The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Cape), a ‘brutish comedy’ set in a fictionalised Auschwitz, reports the Guardian. In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Amis said German publisher Hanser has turned down the manuscript because it wasn’t ‘sufficiently convincing’. No other publisher has yet bought the German rights. In France, the novel will be published by Calmann-Lévy rather than Amis’ usual French publisher Gallimard. The novel, narrated from the points of view of three concentration camp commanders, was described in a Guardian review as a ‘searching, striking novel’, while the Telegraph called it ‘bracingly weird’. Amis said in the interview that he believes Hanser rejected the book on literary merit, not because of the subject matter. ‘Germany has reached a stage where younger people are eager to talk about the past, and the country has developed a sober perspective on that criminal period in its history. That’s why I was surprised when the publisher rejected the book,’ he said.

Category: International news