Hodder lands 'poignant and funny' debut novel from Godley

Hodder & Stoughton has bought Nothing Left Unsaid, the “poignant, funny and quietly devastating” debut novel by Scottish comic Janey Godley.  

Non-fiction publisher Rowena Webb, alongside executive publisher Jo Dickinson, acquired world rights (including audio) from Chris Davis at Chris Davis Management. Nothing Left Unsaid will be published on 12th May 2022.  

Godley completed her “extraordinary and moving novel” shortly before her recent cancer diagnosis, which she revealed in December 2021 to her followers on Twitter and Instagram. Described by the Guardian as “‘one of Scotland’s finest on-stage treasures’”, Godley has previously published a memoir of her “shockingly tough and abusive Glasgow childhood”, Handstands in the Dark (Ebury).  

The publisher wrote: “Nothing Left Unsaid is a dual-timeframe mystery that centres around five women fighting for survival in 1970s Glasgow. As the book opens in the present, Sharon has rushed home at the news that her mother Senga has been admitted to hospital after a battle with cancer. Senga compels Sharon to find and read her diary from the 1970s as she has a confession to make. The journey into her mother’s past is both shocking and surprising, forcing Sharon to re-evaluate her own childhood, her marriage and what she wants the future to hold.”  

Webb commented: “I am hugely proud to be publishing Janey Godley’s brilliant fiction debut. Janey is the rarest of writers who can make you laugh out loud as well as move you to tears. Her characters in the 1970s Glasgow they inhabit are so vividly real—just as you laugh, your heart breaks for them too.”  

Godley added: “This book saved my life during lockdown and gave me focus to write a love letter to all those women I grew up with in Glasgow. Writing in lockdown was hard and my brain kept freezing, but I really hope that I can transport people back to Glasgow in the ’70s which wasn’t all bad. This is my first novel and I hope you all enjoy it.”