John Murray Press wins Walsh's 'taut and tender' debut Exile

John Murray Press has won Exile, a "thoughtful examination of what it means to be young" by first-time novelist Aimée Walsh.

Senior commissioning editor Becky Walsh acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Eleanor Birne at PEW, and the book will be published on 23rd May 2024.

Set in Northern Ireland and Liverpool, Exile is described as "a taut and tender exploration of the consequences of one half-remembered night that asks is it assault if the perpetrator was your oldest childhood friend".

The synopsis adds: "Fiadh leaves her family and friends behind in Belfast to study in Liverpool, but settling into a new city and a new life proves far more difficult than she imagined.

"When she returns home after her first term away for Christmas, a night out with her childhood best friend changes her life forever. Fiadh can barely recall what happened, but once she returns to Liverpool and, without the support of the tightknit network she grew up with, she quickly descends into a self-destructive spiral."

Walsh said: “Aimée’s debut is an honest examination of what it means to be young, to be growing up and finding your feet at a time when the world appears to be your oyster but, in reality, often isn’t. Exile is one of the most assured debuts I’ve read in years.”

Walsh is a writer with a PhD in Irish Literature. In 2021 she was the recipient of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Emerging Writers Bursary in conjunction with the Irish Writers’ Centre. She commented: “I’ve long been an admirer of the books John Murray publishes, from Lisa McInerney to Michael Hughes, so to be included among those names who set me on the path to writing is a dream.

"I have unending gratitude for both commissioning editor Becky Walsh and my agent Eleanor Birne for their unwavering support of Exile.”