Footnote Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has pre-empted a ‘unique’ and ‘passionate’ re-working of Noah’s Ark which is narrated by a flea.
Commissioning Editor Serena Arthur acquired UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada) from Laetitia Rutherford at Watson Little Agency.
Galley Beggar Short Story Prize-winner Timna Fibert’s debut Pray Animal is set on a cruise ship containing what might be the last of humanity and narrated from the deeply imagined perspective of a flea. Not just any flea: an outsider with a singular destiny, longing for love to give her a place in a world being violently remade around her.
Timna Fibert said: “I am so glad Pray Animal and its flea narrator have found a home with Footnote Press. From the outset, I felt they embraced the flea’s passionate contradictions: her metaphysical hungers and her tiny, tender love story. The genuine affection Serena and the team have shown for this savage little creature on her mysterious journey through the flood has encouraged me to lean further into the comedy and pathos of something so small finding itself at odds with the infinite.”
Serena Arthur said: “Timna’s novel is one of the most genuinely unique books I’ve ever read. Our narrating Flea’s voice immediately draws you in and refuses to let you go. The internal buzz for this, even from acquisition, speaks to just how much our exceptional Flea has already captured people’s hearts. Beautifully written, intriguing and heartfelt, Timna’s debut feels simultaneously modern and classic, has been such a pleasure to work on and I genuinely cannot wait for more people to read it.”
Laetitia Rutherford said: “Both Timna’s idea to retell Noah’s Ark on a modern cruise ship from the point of view of its tiniest passenger, the flea, and her extraordinary writing style had me hooked. We are thrilled to find such smart and passionate partners in Serena Arthur and the Footnote team at Bonnier.”
Fibert is a writer and audio describer for the visually impaired. She read English at Oxford, where she published fiction and non-fiction and won an essay competition judged by Andrew O’Hagan and Margaret Drabble. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway and is the Winner of the Galley Beggar Short Story Prize 2023. Timna lives in London.
Pray Animal will be published in Hardback, Audio and eBook in March 2027.
