Corsair lands McGowan’s ‘extraordinarily powerful’ new novel

Corsair has landed Claire McGowan’s “incredibly moving” new novel, This Could Be Us. 

Olivia Hutchings, commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Diana Beaumont at Marjacq. The novel will be published in June 2023. 

“Claire McGowan has written an extraordinarily powerful, personal and involving novel that pulls you into the life of the characters, the challenges they face and the difficult decisions they have to make in order to survive,” said Beaumont. “This does not always make for comfortable reading, but it is so nuanced and deftly accomplished that it stays in your mind long after you have finished it.” 

This Could Be Us moves between the present day and events from 20 years previous, revealing the secrets of a family struggling to cope when their daughter is born with a rare condition. The publisher continued: “We meet Kate, who has been tearing her way through life, determined to tick off as many life goals as possible before the age of 30. Married, with a great job and a baby on the way, she hasn’t stopped to think about whether it is all making her happy until her second child, Kirsty, is born profoundly disabled and she is forced to take stock. Five years later, Kate decides the only way to survive is to do the unthinkable and leave her family.” 

McGowan has previously written crime fiction such as The Vanishing Triangle (Amazon), published earlier this year, and has written under the pen name Eva Woods. This Could Be Us is her first literary fiction novel. 

McGowan commented: “This is an incredibly personal novel for me, inspired by my own experience growing up with a sibling who has profound disabilities. Having been writing it on and off for 10 years, I’m so honoured it has found a home with Corsair and hope that it will shed some light on difficult topics that often get ignored, especially over the austerity years and then Covid, when support and respite has been cut to the bone, leaving carers pushed to the very brink.” 

Hutchings added: “This Could Be Us is a brave, honest portrayal of a family falling apart. Claire holds a light against the uncomfortable parts of our society’s treatment of disability – showing us the stark truth of what it really means to live with a failing care system, a culture of looking the other way, and touching on the real impact Covid is having on disabled people. But above all, it is a fascinating story that depicts a genuine, complicated love at the heart of a family in crisis.”