Jonathan Cape triumphs in five-way auction for 'deeply personal' account of psychoanalyst Milner

Jonathan Cape has triumphed in a five-way auction for a “deeply personal” account of psychoanalyst Marion Milner’s work.  

Željka Marošević, editorial director, acquired British Commonwealth rights for In Defence of Leisure by lecturer Akshi Singh from Eleanor Birne at PEW Literary. It will publish in 2025. 

“A woman in London asks herself: what do I want? What kind of life do I want to live?” the publisher teased. “This is not 2023 but 1926 and the writer is the psychoanalyst Marion Milner.” 

Singh was born 90 years after Milner, in Kota, Rajasthan, over 4,000 miles away from where Milner lived and worked. “At first glance, the worlds of these two women seem entirely separate,” the publisher said, “but in discovering Milner, Singh realised she shared Milner’s questions and preoccupations”.  

It continued: “In Defence of Leisure presents Marion Milner as a writer for our times. Her writing addresses the dangers of being told what to think, the perils of forgetting your own desire, and the importance of unlocking your creativity. As a psychoanalyst in training, a migrant, and a Millennial faced with precarity, Singh found an unexpected companion in Milner and shows how her work has never been more relevant.” 

Marošević said: “A couple of years ago during a rainy weekend when I was in crisis about how to spend my time, I came across Milner’s An Experiment in Leisure in an Oxfam bookshop. Miraculously, Milner seemed to be asking – and answering – the same questions I had. Singh’s beautiful and dazzling writing illuminates the work of Milner while also telling her own story and shows how we might bring creativity, rest and play into our lives. I can’t wait to share it with readers.” 

Singh is lecturer in literature and global migrations at the University of Glasgow. She moved to the UK from India to study for a PhD on psychoanalysis and literature with Jacqueline Rose. After finishing her doctoral work, she worked on a Wellcome Trust-funded research project exploring experiences of solitude. She recently edited a special collection of Critical Quarterly bringing together new writing on Milner. Since 2018, she has been training as a psychoanalyst with the Centre for Freudian Analysis & Research (CFAR). 

She said: “Marion Milner’s writing has been my companion over the last decade, and I’m delighted to share the story of reading her work, and being changed by it. I don’t think I would be the same person today if Milner’s work had not gently, and yet persistently, asked me to pose the question of what I desire—a question that women, all too often, are expected to forget or ignore. 

“It is a dream to work with Željka Marošević at Jonathan Cape, who has edited so many books that have brought me joy and sustenance over the last many years, and I’m grateful for Eleanor Birne’s interest and encouragement.”