The Asia Literary Agency
has sold World English and Italian language rights to Curtain of Rain,
a soulful, intricately linked series of stories set in Thailand and London, by Thai
author Tew Bunnag. World English rights were bought by Narisa Chakrabongse at
River Books. Italian language rights were bought by Andrea Berrini at Metropoli
d'Asia.
Bunnag comes
from a prominent Thai family, graduated from Oxford with a degree in Chinese
and Economics, works to ameliorate conditions in the Bangkok slums, and divides
his time between Thailand and Spain. He is a Buddhist, and a t’ai chi and
meditation master, who counsels families with terminally ill children. Bunnag enjoyed publishing success with his previous works, including Time
of the Lotus, a bestseller in Spain, and After the Wave, a
collection of short stories to commemorate the Boxing Day tsunami.
Geographically, Curtain of Rain takes readers from
Bangkok to London, via the Vietnam War; it moves in time from the troubled past
to the uneasy present. It is told
from the perspective of two characters whose lives and fates become entangled
after a chance encounter during the Vietnam War. Bunnag evokes place
brilliantly, especially Bangkok and the Thai countryside. His explorations of the
tension between history and the present, and of the unreliability of memory, allow him to introduce issues of politics, power and greed, without
losing sight of his characters’ searches for meaning, and redemption.
Kelly
Falconer, founder of the Asia Literary Agency, said: “This timely account of
contemporary Thailand, a country still struggling to come to terms with an
unstable past, is evocatively told by Tew Bunnag. The feeling of being an
insider and simultaneously an outsider, caught between the past and the
present, permeates this book, which is international in setting and in appeal.”
Bangkok-based River Books was founded 20 years ago with the
aim of publishing high quality, illustrated books on the art, archaeology,
history, and culture of mainland Southeast Asia. Their guidebooks to the
ancient cities of the region are perennially popular, although Ancient
Angkor has the dubious distinction of being the most widely available pirated
guidebook at Angkor Wat. Recently River
Books has started publishing cookery titles and novels. Narisa
Chakrabongse said: “River Books are very excited to be publishing the
English edition of Curtain of Rain by Tew Bunnag.”
Metropoli d'Asia is an Italian publishing house owned and run
by Andrea Berrini, a writer himself, who spends most of his time in India,
China, Singapore and the rest of the South East Asian countries, directly
scouting for emerging writers.
Curtain of Rain should be available in
English and Italian next year.
