What do you get when you mix a cult writer with an iconic publisher? A Turnaround book of the month! Introducing Pétronille, out this October from Europa Editions.

Belgian author Amelie Northomb has published at least one novel a year since 1992. It’s this prolificacy, as well as the dark humour and cutthroat content of her books that has elevated her to a kind of cult status. Her legions of fans await her next novel with enthusiasm. This year’s offering, which is a story of female friendship, travel and champagne, is published by the currently much-coveted Europa Editions, whose books have recently been called “objects of desire” by the New York Times Style magazine. Put a cult writer with an iconic publisher, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the resulting book will be certain to thrill readers.

But, it’s not just Nothomb’s fans that will enjoy Pétronille. The story has much crossover appeal; a tale of friendship between the author (who appears as a central character in all of her novels) and Pétronille, her champagne loving best friend. Set between London and Paris, and featuring Vivian Westwood as a character, the book is a literary Thelma and Louise. After the enormous success of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels (also published by Europa), female friendship has become a popular subject in fiction. Pétronille with appeal to literary readers, fashionistas, fans and first-time Northomb readers alike.

I’ll end with this quote from the Scotland on Sunday which sums up Nothomb’s appeal: “Amélie Nothomb is such an utter astonishment, the shock of reading her for the first time is like realizing you have inadvertently missed a whole movement, or century, in the scheme of things.” We can expect Petronille to be a popular choice for fiction readers over the coming weeks.

• Bill Godber, Managing Director