Please Look After Mom: W&N Essentials

Weidenfeld & Nicolson is launching W&N Essentials—a new list of "classic books for modern readers" made up of "cult favourites, trailblazers and cherished friends".

Launching in March 2021, W&N Essentials will comprise both fiction and non-fiction, each book in the series promising to be a "literary jewel" that has stood the test of time.

A new title will be published every month with an introduction from a contemporary author. The first 12 titles are a combination of books new to the imprint and those that have already played a key part in W&N’s history, including Jane Bowles’ Two Serious Ladies, Laurie Colwin’s Happy All the Time, Alice Walker’s Meridian and Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire.

The list will be overseen by Lettice Franklin, editorial director at W&N, who commented she was pleased the collection would be "delightfully varied" with titles also hailing from around the world.

"I have spent the last year putting together my dream reading list, picking from W&N’s extraordinary backlist and acquiring old favourites to join them," said Franklin. "The resulting W&N Essentials list is—and will only become more—delightfully varied. It is home to fiction and non-fiction, titles from around the world, beloved classics that already feel like old friends and radical trailblazers.

"In her introduction to our new edition of Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia, Maggie O’Farrell writes of buying numerous copies and ‘pressing them into people’s hands with an exhortation to read without delay’. I want every book on the W&N Essentials list to inspire this kind of passion—to be one you would give to a friend, knowing it is about to become their new favourite, and one they will pass on in turn."

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, introduced by Katherine Heiny, is the list’s launch title, described as "a jewel of romantic comedy" for readers who love "When Harry Met Sally". Franklin acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Peggy Boulos-Smith at Writers House, and W&N will publish in March 2021.

The other books in the series are: Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono, introduced by Sayaka Murata, billed as a collection of pitch-black, highly subversive stories about sex, motherhood and femininity in 20th-century Japan (acquired from Daisy Chandley and Tim Bates at PFD to publish in April 2021); a cult classic set in 1970s America, Speedboat by Renata Adler, introduced by Hilton Als (acquired from Patrick Hederman at NYRB to publish in May 2021); Eustace and Hilda by The Go-Between author LP Hartley, introduced by Anita Brookner (acquired from Patrick Hederman at NYRB to publish in July 2021); O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker, introduced by Maggie O’Farrell (acquired from Victoria Hobbs at AM Heath to publish in October 2021); For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, introduced by Bernardine Evaristo, a choropoem about the experiences of black women which first debuted as a play in 1976 (acquired from Ben Fowler at Abner Stein on behalf of Max Moorhead at Massie and McQuilkin to publish in December 2021); and Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles, introduced by Naoise Dolan, a novel about two women finding freedom through going to pieces first published in 1943 (acquired from Ekin Oklap at the Wylie Agency to publish in January 2022).

These newly acquired titles will be joined by five novels that are already on the W&N list: Troubles by J G Farrell (August 2021); Meridian by Alice Walker, introduced by Tayari Jones (September 2021); In the Cut by Susanna Moore, introduced by Olivia Sudijc (June 2021); Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (November 2021) and Please Look After Mother by Kyung-sook Shin (February 2022).

Jenny Lord, publisher of W&N, said: "Launched in 1949, W&N has been home to some of the 20th century’s most remarkable voices including Vladimir Nabokov, Edna O’Brien, Saul Bellow, Vita Sackville-West and Alice Walker. The W&N Essentials list looks backwards as well as forwards, bringing new life to the imprint’s most beloved classics and introducing new titles to stand alongside them. We are thrilled with the shape of the Essentials list so far and excited to bring these exceptional books—and the many more we have in the pipeline—to new readers."

The series look was designed by Steve Marking, art director at Orion.