Canongate acquires ‘profound’ new novel by Paper Cup author Karen Campbell

Canongate has snapped up Karen Campbell’s new novel, This Bright Life.

Editor-at-large Leah Woodburn acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Jo Unwin at JULA, and the book will be published in March 2025.

“Gerard’s only 12, yet carries a huge weight on his shoulders,” the synopsis says. “His mum’s out of it again, his young siblings are hungry, there’s no money in the flat, and the electric’s gone off.” It adds: “As desperate Gerard seizes the opportunity to steal [...] worlds collide one fateful morning. But the theft goes horribly wrong, and three lives are changed forever.”

Campbell is the author of eight previous novels, the most recent of which, Paper Cup (Canongate), was a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month. A former police officer, the author won the Best New Scottish Writer Award in 2009. She teaches creative writing and has worked with young offenders, homeless people, refugees and asylum seekers.

Campbell said: “This Bright Life is about how we all live cheek-by-jowl, yet contained in our own wee boxes. Separate, but connected by community. It’s about the tiny ways we impact on one another; the huge ripples that small actions create. And this is a story about one vulnerable, angry wee boy whose life is spinning out of control, and the people who might help – or harm – him as he struggles to find a pathway to his future.”

Woodburn added: “Karen is expert at writing about tough lives without judgement and with great heart, and This Bright Life deserves to find her broadest audience to date. If ever there was a book that spoke to the times we’re living in, this is it; its message is profound, but parcelled in humour, compassion and hope.”