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Penguin Canada To Publish Studio Saint-Ex By Ania Szado

March 1, 2012 (Toronto) - Penguin Canada is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Ania Szado 's gorgeous new novel, Studio Saint-Ex, set to publish in Spring 2013. The book was acquired in a competitive bid by Penguin's Commissioning Editor Adrienne Kerr and arranged by Melanie Jackson of Melanie Jackson Agency in New York.

Publication will be simultaneous with Associate Publisher Vicky Wilson of Knopf in the US, editor of Anne Rice and Lorrie Moore.

Set in Manhattan during WWII, Studio Saint-Ex chronicles the tumultuous affair of rising fashion star Mignonne Lachapelle and the celebrated yet tormented French expatriate writer/war pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Nothing about their relationship is easy, yet the greatest complication comes in the form of a deceptively simple manuscript: Saint-Exupéry's work-in-progress, The Little Prince.

Kerr says, "In graceful prose Szado conjures a glittering French expatriate community in WWII Manhattan and beautifully evokes the lives and loves of the beloved creator of The Little Prince. It is eloquent on the subjects of artistic inspiration and integrity and invites the reader to savour brilliant insights on the nature of love and art. We are extremely proud to be publishing this gorgeous novel."

"I'm so pleased to be working with Penguin again," writes Ania Szado. "I can't imagine a better Canadian partner for Studio Saint-Ex."

2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, the timeless classic that tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. The Little Prince, the most translated book in the French language, has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and numerous adaptations are in the works including a major motion picture set to release in 2014.

Ania Szado's first novel, Beginning of Was, was published to critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for The Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Canada/Caribbean). She was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.