Fly on the Wall Press is thrilled to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights to THE OTHERS, an extraordinary novel by Sheena Kalayil exploring love, revolution, and migration in the final days of the DDR. Rights for this exceptional upmarket fiction novel were sold by Mark Stanton at The North Literary Agency to Isabelle Kenyon, Managing Director of Fly on the Wall Press.
In THE OTHERS, three young people from vastly different backgrounds —Armando from Mozambique, Lolita from India, and East German national Theo— find themselves drawn together in a poignant love triangle in a small Baltic city as the DDR begins to collapse around them. While a quiet revolution sweeps Eastern Europe in 1989, their intertwined lives and cultures collide in messy, beautiful ways.
"THE OTHERS is that rare novel that feels both wildly entertaining and profoundly important," said Kenyon. "Kalayil deftly balances an engrossing, complicated love story with powerful themes of migration, political upheaval, and the fundamental connectedness of people across the world."
Born in Zambia to Indian parents, Kalayil arrived in the UK at 18 and has lived and worked globally from Mozambique to Spain. Her acclaimed debut novel won the prestigious Writer's Guild Award for Best First Novel. She now teaches at the University of Manchester. THE OTHERS was inspired by her time spent in Budapest as a student in the months surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"I have never had a love affair that was not impacted by questions of borders, nationality, and permits," said Kalayil. "In researching this novel, I was indebted to writers like Maxim Leo, Anna Funder, and Prof. Tanja Müller who brought the lived experiences of the DDR to life for me."
With a brilliant, fresh voice and perspective, THE OTHERS promises to be a captivating, kaleidoscopic love story for the ages. Fly on the Wall Press plans to publish in October 2025.
Preorders for The Others can be found here at Fly on the Wall Press
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