John Murray pre-empts Docherty’s ‘dizzying’ literary debut  

John Murray has acquired the “dizzying” debut novel by Scottish writer Madeline Docherty, winner of the 2022 North Literary Agency Prize.

Editor Abigail Scruby pre-empted world rights in all formats including audio for We Could Be Everything to Each Other from Mark Stanton at The North Literary Agency, for publication in July 2024.

We Could Be Everything to Each Other is described as a lyrical coming-of-age story about female friendship, growing up and living with endometriosis. The publisher goes on: “Told over the course of several years, in short, sharp vignettes, we accompany the heroine of the novel as she graduates from university, explores her sexuality and tries to find her place in the world – all while living with an illness that could tear her apart at any moment. Through it all, she depends heavily on her best friend Ella. But amid the drinking and the parties, hospital visits and late-night calls, their friendship implodes."

Scruby said: “I devoured this novel in one breathless sitting. Madeline’s searing prose perfectly captures the intensity of being in your late teens and 20s, and trying to figure out who you are – to yourself and to others. It is a love letter to female friendship and a deeply affecting portrait of a chronic illness that has long been ignored; it asks, how do you care for yourself when you don’t know how? At only 23, Madeline writes with an uncommon precision and self-assurance, and I’m thrilled to be publishing her on the John Murray list.”

Docherty, who works in communications and teaches creative writing workshops for the charity Mind Waves, said: “There wasn’t a single moment where I had the idea for this story. It grew from countless conversations with my friends in the pub, workshops and seminars with some wonderful tutors, and trying to make sense of my own experiences of illness and growing up. The novel finding a home with John Murray, with a team that has fallen in love with the characters as much as I did, is such an immense privilege. The idea of holding a copy in my hands or seeing it on the shelves in bookshops and libraries still doesn’t feel real.”