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Pan Mac snaps up ex-lawyer Murphy's debut in two-book deal
Pan Macmillan has snapped up two books from debut author and former family lawyer Nora Murphy.
Publishing director Trisha Jackson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Helen Heller at the Helen Heller agency. The first book, called The Favour, will be published simultaneously in the US with Minotaur Books at the St Martin’s Publishing Group in summer 2022.
The publisher said: “The Favour is the story of Leah, a lawyer, and McKenna, a doctor. They don’t know each other, but they both live in beautiful houses in a prosperous Maryland suburb. The narrators are in no way unreliable. They always tell the truth. And their truth hurts. Because these two intelligent, attractive, professional women are living in a hell of their husbands’ making. And there is no way to get out of hell. Except maybe there is..."
Murphy has studied and written a paper on the subject of professional perpetrators of domestic abuse, people who have high-profile careers and hold respected positions in society, and the unique challenges faced by their victims, “lending her writing and the story credibility”, Pan Mac said.
The author said: “I couldn’t be happier to be working with Trisha and the Pan Macmillan team. Their vision for this book has been a dream come true.”
Jackson commented: “From the minute I started reading The Favour, I knew I had to publish it. It’s the perfect page-turner: smartly written and thought-provoking with vividly drawn characters the reader immediately roots for, and asks the question ‘what if’.”
