Scribe buys Korean debut via BookBrunch

The Picture Bride is by Korean bestselling YA author Lee Geum-yi

Marika Webb-Pullman at Scribe has bought UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada) to The Picture Bride by Lee Geumyi, to be published in late 2022. Robert Davis at Forge Macmillan acquired the North American (incl. Canada) rights and said the book is "reminiscent of Pachinko and The Island of Sea Women, a historical fiction novel set in the early 1900s, that follows a young Korean 'picture bride' who leaves Korea for a better life in Hawaii, only to discover deceit thousands of miles from home."

The deals were through New York literary agent Barbara J Zitwer and the book has also sold to in Germany.

Zitwer said: "This book is especially moving because it is based on the true stories of Korean picture brides who were tricked into coming to Hawaii and thought they were marrying handsome Korean farmers and owners of plantations only to arrive and discover their husbands to be were old, toothless and indentured workers.

"These young Korean women who were told they could go to school in America, the land of wealth and opportunity and freedom for women where dresses hung from trees, [the reality] was a shock and incredible hardship.

"Depicting a little known part of history, this feminist immigrant story is unforgettable, gripping and beautiful. The character-driven novel depicts the strength and ingenuity of the young Korean woman and the beauty of the nature of Hawaii is on full display.  A story of womens’ friendship and how we overcome all odds."