A&U acquires Tasker’s debut novel

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Michael Caleb Tasker’s Just Like the Night, in a deal brokered by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

The novel follows Sera Olin, out on parole after more than 8 years in prison but unable to shake her past.

“As she tries to settle into an honest life in Sydney, all she wants is to see her estranged daughter, Lena,” said the announcement. “But Lena is grown up now and involved with people far worse than Sera understands.”

Dawn into “the quagmire of Lena’s choices, [Sera] is forced to confront the possibility that a mother’s sacrifice might not be enough.”

Publisher Alex Craig said, “Just Like the Night is a masterclass in spare prose and restraint, bringing depth and grace to this crime noir that explores the ties that bind, for better and worse. An award-winning short-story writer, Michael Caleb Tasker has written a first novel that throws back to the literary tradition of the mid-century American greats, set in the seedy Sydney underbelly of today.”

Tasker said, “Just Like the Night owes a lot to writers such as David Goodis and John D MacDonald, who were as interested in issues like the repercussions and limits of responsibility and family as they were [in] the intrigue and despair of the criminal life. I’m both honoured and thrilled that A&U are publishing the novel.”

Montreal-born Tasker, author of the short-story collection All Gone Now (Cornerstone), has spent the past 20 years in Australia. He earned a PhD from the University of Newcastle, focusing on the existential roots of noir; has worked as a journalist, ranch-hand and lecturer; and currently manages an art supplies store.

A&U has scheduled Just Like the Night for release in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand in May.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions