Faber has acquired the new novel by the “international literary star”. The final novel of Slimani’s Country of Others trilogy, I’ll Take the Fire, is described as “a haunting story of self-discovery, truth and power, sex and lies”.
Associate publisher Louisa Joyner acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Éditions Gallimard. The book will be published in April 2026.
Slimani is the author of Adèle (Faber), Sex and Lies (Faber) and Lullaby (Faber); Lullaby made her the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.
The publisher says: “I’ll Take the Fire tells the story of two sisters, Mia and Inés – two girls enveloped in love, trapped by social conventions of Casablanca at the dawn of the 21st century and silenced by the political ‘truths’ that envelop their lives. As these sisters struggle to find a home, a place of safety and love that holds rather than binds, this story – their lives, as framed by their mothers and grandmothers before them – will be a battle for their hearts and souls, and one they take on with every sinew of their being.”
Joyner said: “Leïla is an international literary star and this book brings together all the facets of her work that make her a key global figure – and one of the most talented novelists of a generation – in a work that speaks to the social and political fractures being played out on the bodies of young men and women across the globe. We’re incredibly proud to be her publisher and so excited to share this powerful, tender and incisive new work.”
