Mondadori pre-empts the Italian rights for THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT by Katja Kettu! Fifth pre-empt!

Excellent news for our Frankfurt book of the fair: the “Cat Book” travels to Italy! We are thrilled to announce an Italian pre-empt for THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT by Katja Kettu.  The rights were acquired by Mondadori, who will publish Kettu on their list of strong literary voices, with authors such as  Zadie Smith, Monica Ali, Celeste Ng, Pierre Lemaitre etc. The deal was closed by Elsa Lindström at Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency.

Mondadori’s editor Chiara Scaglioni fell in love with the CAT:

“I found myself totally hooked by this enticing and unusual magical story rooted in Finland’s history and natural surroundings. It’s an unforgettable and clever novel with a magical realism setting, “a sea of fermented souls”, where spirits drift. A burgeoning love story, a miscarriage, a deep meditation on womanhood and maternity, told with a great voice by a very talented author.”
– Chiara Scaglioni, foreign fiction editor, Mondadori

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT has previously sold in pre-empts to Lindhardt og Ringhof in Denmark, Humanitas Fiction in Romania, Albert Bonniers in Sweden and Pax Forlag in Norway.

Rights are still available for France, Germany, Poland, Czechia, Spain, US, UK, etc! 
Download the English materials from below.

Download the materials for INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT here!

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT was published in Finland on September 27th to great praise from media:

“Katja Kettu has written a wonderful novel in which the power of words brings justice to the world. It isn’t harmless or beautiful, but the novel approaches words as a form of magic. [–] And what about the cat and its investigations? “Let the Cat come, let it take over my novel. I’m the one who’s weak here. Cats know a lot and care about little.” The Cat takes over the novel and is turned into a novel, and now it sticks out, funny and teasing, and difficult in so many ways.”  – Maaria Ylikangas in Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

“The attractiveness of Kettu’s novels smoulders in its multipaced idioms, the rhythm of its words, the mythological material [used in the novels] and historiography… [—] THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT succeeds in being an impressive depiction of the building blocks of being human and intergenerational experiences that shape selfhoods even after long journeys.”  – Sanna Jääskeläinen in Savon Sanomat newspaper

“Katja Kettu superbly commands the verbalization of emotional charges with strong expression. [—] The power of many of Kettu’s works is born from combining historically dramatic and traumatic events with fictional imagination and storytelling. The same is with THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT [—]. THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT alluringly combines different traditions of storytelling, as if underlining how borders and categories can be broken and pierced. The novel doesn’t stay neatly and cutely in a specific box but wanders and sprawls. Its story carries, its sensations change from one extreme to the other and its language oscillates through its wordforms and rhythms. And, amidst everything, the peculiar Cat brings delight.”  – Kaisa Kurikka in Turun Sanomat newspaper

“THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT draws you in, with its varying structure, its [—] bustling language, intriguing characters, and the swish and mood of history as its trump cards. [—] THE INVESTIGATIONS OF A CERTAIN CAT is a novel about writing a book, about fragility and strength, and about the spectrum of life. From brutal experiences, a serious, yet playful and moving whole is born.” – Tuijata. Kulttuuripohdintoja blog