Granta scoops 'landmark' history of hypochondria from Crampton

Granta has scooped a "landmark" book on hypochondria from Caroline Crampton.

Laura Barber, deputy publishing director, bought UK and Commonwealth rights on proposal from Sophie Lambert at C&W for Suspended in Darkness: A History of Hypochondria. The book will be published in 2024.

The publisher said the book grew out of Crampton's experience of living through a serious illness, "but it charts part of the landscape that most illness memoirs don’t reach: the territory beyond survival or cure where, in spite of the declaration of an ‘all clear’ for the body, the mind continues to fear and feel illness". Granta added: "Alongside her own story of dealing with sustained hypochondria, Caroline also explores the medical and cultural history of the phenomenon and its modern manifestation as health anxiety."

Barber said: "I was so moved by the honesty and lucidity of Caroline’s account of what it feels like to live inside an endless loop of health worry. And although the circumstances that sparked Caroline’s particular disquiet are relatively unusual, the experience of health anxiety is something many of us can relate to—especially at this particular moment, of internet self-diagnosis, of ‘wellness’ (which offers the illusion of bringing health and disease within our control), and of a global pandemic that has made us all more alert to the potential significance of every minor symptom. We are so pleased to be working again with Caroline, on what promises to become a landmark book on the subject."