London, July 9: Award-winning Indian novelist and poet Vikram Seth may be faced with the prospect of having to return his $ 1.7 million advance for the sequel to his 1993 classic ‘A Suitable Boy'.
His agents, David Godwin Associates, are in negotiations with publishers Hamish Hamilton over reported delays by the author in producing a manuscript to follow up his classic tome with ‘A Suitable Girl'.
While some reports suggested this may be a result of cost-cutting measures being put in place following the recent mega publishing merger of Penguin with Random House, the publishers have dismissed the idea.
“Penguin never comments on individual contract negotiations with our authors. It should be noted that these discussions precede the Penguin Random House merger, and are not at all connected to the merger or erroneous suggestions of cost cutting”, said a spokesperson for the publishing giant, which now owns Hamish Hamilton as part of the merger earlier this month.
Combined, the companies publish over 15,000 books annually and have 10,000 employees with revenues of $ 3.9 billion.
'A Suitable Boy' is one of the longest novels ever published in a single volume in the English language. Set in post-independence India, it recently marked its 20th anniversary with a paperback reissue in May.
The book's key character, Lata, was to be juxtaposed within a contemporary Indian context for ‘A Suitable Girl', initially expected later this year and later pushed to 2014-15.
David Godwin, Mr. Seth's literary agent who is heading up the ongoing negotiations with the publishers, said the author “has been known to take his time with his books”.
He did not confirm details of the discussions at this stage and whether it could lead to Mr. Seth having to return his hefty advance, but is hopeful of settling on a new deadline for the delivery of the manuscript.
