New Martel book on Holocaust 'shocking'

A British publisher has unveiled details of a new novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, his firstvolume since the 2002 Booker Prize-winner Life of Pi.

Canongate told the Bookseller, an industry publication, thatMartel's next book willcentre onthe Nazi Holocaust.

According to Jamie Byng, managing director and publisher of Canongate, "it will take us somewhere truly unexpected and shocking" and asks "profound moral and philosophical questions about the nature of love and evil."

Beatrice and Virgil is due outin June and will be released simultaneously in Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia and India.

In an interview withthe Booksellerthat was posted on its website Friday, Byngsaid Martel has risen to the challenge of writing a followup to his bestselling, acclaimed previous novel.

He called Beatrice and Virgil "a wildly imaginative and multi-layered story that engrosses from the first page and leaves you asking questions long after you have turned the last."

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee is reportedlyin discussions to helma movie adaptation ofLife of Pi.

Published in 2001,the bookchronicles the story of shipwreck survivor and zookeeper's son Pi Patel, who spends much time adrift on a lifeboat accompanied by a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger from his family's former zoo.

Martel, 46,recently participated in an extravaganza hosted from the International Space Station by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibert of Montreal,an event staged to highlight water conservation.

The writer created a 14-stanza poem about water in which each stanza was read by a different luminary, linked up via satellite.

The 14-city show, called Moving Stars and Earth for Water, was broadcast on the internet and several TV networks on Oct. 9.