What if everything you thought you knew about your life turned out to be a lie? What if you idolised your parents, but they were not who you thought they were? What would you do? Would you stay? Would you run? Would you try to find out the truth?
Usborne’s Stephanie King has acquired World English Language rights to The One Who Knows My Name by Vanessa Curtis from Ella Kahn, Diamond Kahn & Woods Literary Agency.
Told in the captivating first-person voice of fifteen-year-old Inge, Vanessa Curtis’s latest teen historical novel explores the secretive and disturbing legacy of the Nazi’s Lebensborn programme, under which Polish children were stolen from their families to be brought up in the Aryan ideal. This is an unforgettably emotive, powerful story with a strong element of mystery that makes it truly compelling.
The acquisition follows the release of critically acclaimed The Earth is Singing on 27th January 2015 – Holocaust Memorial Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is the harrowing but hopeful story of a Jewish teenage girl living in Soviet and Nazi-occupied Latvia during the Second World War.
Vanessa Curtis comments: ‘I am delighted to be working with Usborne again on my historical novel, The One Who Knows My Name. Usborne’s reputation as publishers of historical fiction for young adults means that I am always assured that they will nurture and promote my novels and ensure that the real-life stories within them are brought to a wider audience.’
Ella Kahn: ‘Vanessa’s talent for writing authentic historical teen voices shines through again in The One Who Knows My Name, and after their success with The Earth Is Singing, I’m thrilled that Usborne will once again be working their magic in publishing this very special story.’
Stephanie King: “From the moment I read the opening sentences of Vanessa’s latest work I was drawn into Inge’s world and the unsettling and life-changing situation she finds herself in. Told in Vanessa’s distinctively elegant, authentic voice, this book is an insightful look at the Nazis’ legacy in post-war Germany, a gripping story of one girl’s journey to discover her true identity, and a profound and moving examination of the universal themes of home, family and belonging.”
The One Who Knows My Name will be released in January 2017.
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