Home 5 Articles and Reports 5 From Auction Buzz to Frankfurt Book Fair: The Rise of ‘Happiness Falls’

From Auction Buzz to Frankfurt Book Fair: The Rise of ‘Happiness Falls’

A powerful novel about a missing father, a possible murder and the nature of happiness has already been the subject of a five-way auction in the US and will surely be a title to watch at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

Happiness Falls is the second novel by the Korean-American writer Angie Kim.  It has sold to Hogarth Press in the US, part of Penguin Random House, and has just sold to Faber in the UK where Publishing director Angus Cargill acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Peggy Boulos Smith (on behalf of Susan Golomb) at Writers House.

The US publisher says: ‘When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another in this thrilling page-turner, a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.

The publisher adds: ‘What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand each other.

 

Kim studied philosophy at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Her debut novel, Miracle Creek won the Edgar Award, the ITW Thriller Award, the Strand Critics’ Award and the Pinckley Prize. In the US, Happiness Falls has been named a Barnes & Noble Book Club’s September pick, the Amazon Editors’ Best Books of the Month Spotlight pick and the September pick for the Good Morning America Book Club.

Kim said: “I am in awe of Faber’s incomparable list of amazing authors and books I love, and I am overjoyed and deeply honoured to be working with Angus Cargill, who has edited some of my all-time favourite novels and provided keen insights that helped shape Happiness Falls into what it is today. I can’t wait to work with the rest of the Faber team to bring this book to readers in the UK and beyond.”

 

Cargill added: “Happiness Falls, which has garnered the most incredible advance praise and support, is a novel which sees her more than deliver on the promise of her debut, Miracle Creek. It is an exquisite mystery and a profound and moving exploration of an unforgettable family.”

 

The title is out now in the US and will be published in the UK in February.

 

Recent News

17Jul
Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin said release date of On Winter Hill would be changed in order to ‘support the author’ after allegations that Raynor Winn lied in her bestselling memoir. Author Raynor Winn’s new book has been delayed because questions about her bestselling work The Salt Path have caused her and her husband “considerable distress”, her publisher has […]

17Jul
Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the Willows, written by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, will publish in March […]

16Jul
Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was Bonnier publisher. Among the authors who are making the jump with them […]

Related Posts

Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the...

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was...

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

In a timeless moment etched into the memory of human heritage, the sun of Sharjah rose once again on the map of the world, this time through the gateway of deep history. At its recently concluded 47th session in Paris, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this