Bri Lee’s new novel sells to Summit Books
Simon & Schuster (S&S) imprint Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to Bri Lee’s second novel, Seed, from Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary.
The novel introduces Mitchell and Frances, colleagues who spend one month every year ‘in a childfree utopia of radical equality and science in Antarctica’ working on a seed vault in an isolated, secret location, according to the publisher. But at the end of the month, their helicopter doesn’t pick them up, and they face a race against time to make the last flight home before the polar winter sets in. ‘The vast white expanse starts to haunt Mitchell with memories of a devastating betrayal, and questions of legacy and fairness crowd his mind,’ said the publisher. ‘As the days get shorter, we realise he has been keeping big secrets – not just from Frances, but also from himself.’
Lee is the author of the memoir Eggshell Skull and the novel The Work, both published by Allen & Unwin (A&U).
Summit publishing director Jane Palfreyman, who joined S&S from A&U in 2024, said: ‘With Seed, Bri has surpassed even my expectations and created a white-knuckle ride into a magnificently rendered locked-room thriller of global proportions, a scenario in which only two characters reflect and refract our world with nuance, tension, intelligence and compassion. Seed is a stunning short, epic novel of our times and I am so proud and excited to welcome it and Bri Lee to Summit Books and S&S.’
Lee said: ‘I am so grateful to have been with my agent Grace Heifetz and publisher Jane Palfreyman since the very beginning of my career. The research I’ve done into antinatalism and family planning in the climate emergency is confronting and difficult subject matter, but Grace and Jane have sat with me in those tough places. I feel honoured they placed so much faith in me. I believe Seed meets our moment. It will probably divide readers, and that will be a good thing. That’s what I do. And I couldn’t do it without them.’
Said Heifetz: ‘With every book Bri writes, she dials it up, taking big ideas and placing them within stories that provoke and force one to see the world in different ways. Seed solidifies Bri as an extraordinary writer of fiction and it will absolutely blow your mind.’
Seed will be published on 1 October 2025 in print, ebook and audiobook.