Scribe acquires debut novel by Horton

Scribe has acquired world rights to Luke Horton’s debut novel, The Fogging, which was highly commended in the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards unpublished manuscript prize.

Rights were acquired at auction from Grace Heifetz at Curtis Brown.

The Fogging follows academics Tom and Clara as they holiday in Bali. When Clara becomes lost in the grounds of their hotel during a routine ‘fogging’—the spraying of pesticide through the hotel—the atmosphere of the holiday darkens. It is a ‘compelling tale of the slow disintegration of a relationship and the unravelling of a man’.

Horton is the editor of The Lifted Brow Review of Books, and was shortlisted for the 2017 Seizure Viva La Novella competition.

Acquiring editor Anna Thwaites said: ‘Luke has captured something honest, compassionate, and disturbing about a very familiar kind of modern man. His observations about people and relationships are piercing and a relief to read, and his ironic commentary on tourism and travelling are cutting and funny. The climactic scene stayed with me long after I finished reading it. I can’t wait for everyone else to read it, too.’

The Fogging is scheduled for publication in mid-2020.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions