How ‘The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands’ by Sarah Brooks Got Made

In this week’s edition of Endnotes, we take a look at The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands (Flatiron, June) the debut novel by Sarah Brooks. A work of historical fantasy, the novel is set on the Great Trans-Siberian Express as it navigates monster-infested wastelands.

Here’s how the book came together.

Sarah Brooks, Author

“The seed of the novel came from a memorable journey I took on the Trans-Siberian Express when I was a student, and it was first written as a short story. I would say that it’s a book for anyone who’s felt the pull of adventure, and who is curious about the world. It’s fantasy, but it’s also firmly rooted in elements of our own past and present.”

Nelle Andrew, Agent, Rachel Mills Literary

“The day I submitted The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands, an editor emailed me a few hours later to say they’d finished it. And then the next day my inbox was flooded with emails and questions, and I knew we were onto something. By the end of the week we had multiple preempts across the world, and the next week the start of an 11-way auction in the U.K.”

Caroline Bleeke, Executive Editor, Flatiron Books

“This was one of those rare moments editors dream of, when you know from the first line that you are in the presence of something utterly original and transporting. I almost never do this, but I sent Nelle, Sarah’s agent, an email within 10 minutes of her sending me the submission saying that I had read the first page and had that tingly feeling and was hooked. I basically put everything else on hold until I had finished the novel.”

Will Staehle, Cover Designer, Unusual Co.

“I leaned pretty heavily into a vintage motif with this cover in order to reference the historical style of the novel. Many late 19th-century/early-
20th-century book covers had foil artwork pressed onto textured cases,
and oftentimes these covers had borders or semi-ornate framework on them. So, along those lines, I liked the concept of using the train as a decorative border for the cover as opposed to the central image.”