The Moon Represents My Heart
Hardcover – 1 June 2023
The Wang family are hiding a secret – they all have the ability to time travel. When parents Joshua and Lily depart for the past and never return, their children Tommy and Eva are forced to deal with their grief alone. Eva might be trying to find her place in the present, but Tommy is pulled further and further into a past that he hopes holds the truth. When he falls in love with a woman from a different era, his inability to confront his own history has severe ramifications for the people who can truly bring him happiness.
Heartfelt and hopeful, weaving through decades and across continents and told through incredible prose, The Moon Represents My Heart is an unforgettable debut about the bond between one extraordinary family and the strength it takes to move forward.
Netflix and 21Laps have optioned Pim Wangtechawat’s forthcoming debut novel ‘The Moon Represents My Heart.”
In advance of the second half of Stranger Things season four premiering tomorrow, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Netflix and 21 Laps are staying in the supernatural business.
As part of the production company’s overall deal with the streamer, the two have optioned The Moon Represents My Heart, the forthcoming debut novel from Pim Wangtechawat, in a competitive situation and will develop the project as a limited series. Grandview sold the option rights on behalf of Mushens Entertainment’s Liza DeBlock.
Executive producing alongside 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy and Josh Barry is Gemma Chan, who also is attached to star in the story about a British-Chinese family with the secret ability to time travel. After the parents vanish, their son and daughter search for them across time while coming of age as adults.
21 Laps senior vp Emily Morris, who brought the book to Netflix, will oversee the project for the producers alongside manager Moera Ainai.
The Moon Represents My Heart (incidentally, also the title of a Mandarin pop classic made famous by Teresa Teng in 1977) will be published next spring by OneWorld Publications in the U.K., with Italian rights sold to Keller Editore.
In addition to her upcoming onscreen work (which includes Olivia Wilde’s thriller Don’t Worry Darling, Apple’s climate change anthology series Extrapolations and New Regency’s sci-fi feature True Love), Chan’s slate as an executive producer includes an upcoming Anna May Wong biopic produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi and Working Title and penned by Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang.
The Eternals star is represented by M88, the U.K.’s Independent and WME.
Wangtechawat’s “immersive” debut sold to Oneworld
Oneworld has scooped “an immersive and rewarding” debut novel by Thai-Chinese writer Pim Wangtechawat.
Publisher Juliet Mabey acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to The Moon Represents My Heart from Liza DeBlock at Mushens Entertainment in a two-book deal. It will be published as the super-lead title in spring 2023. Italian rights were quickly acquired by Keller Editore.
The Moon Represents My Heart follows the generations of a British-Chinese family of time travellers. When Tommy’s parents time-travel and never return, time stands still. But as everyone begins to move forward, Tommy is stuck in the past which has ramifications for his life in the present. The Moon Represents My Heart is “a story about relationships between parent and child, whether one can accept the choices of the other, and whether they would make the same decision again”.
Mabey said: “Pim has written a truly heart-warming, richly poetic novel, brimming with tenderness, joy and loss, and I found myself rooting for each character in this immersive, multivocal time-travelling novel. Sitting in that wonderful sweet spot between literary and upmarket fiction, I’m incredibly excited to be able to include it in the launch list for our new commercial fiction imprint here at Oneworld.”
DeBlock said: “I absolutely loved The Moon Represents My Heart and Pim’s writing is gorgeous. I laughed, I cried, and this story made me relive every best day of my life. Juliet Mabey is the perfect person to shepherd this new literary talent.”
Wangtechawat added: “I’m beyond excited that The Moon Represents My Heart — a deeply personal debut inspired by my Chinese heritage — has found the perfect home with Oneworld. As an author from Bangkok writing in my second language, it is a lifelong dream to have my novel published! I’m so excited to be working with Juliet and her team. Her love and belief in this book, along with my agent Liza DeBlock’s, have been invaluable.”
Pim Wangtechawat 