Picador scoops 'fascinating history' of nostalgia from debut author Arnold-Forster

Picador has scooped a “fascinating" history of nostalgia from debut writer Agnes Arnold-Forster. 

George Morley, publishing director, acquired world rights in all languages for Nostalgia: A Biography from Oli Munson at A M Heath. It will publish in spring 2024. 

Arnold-Forster blends neuroscience and psychology with the history of medicine and the emotions to explore the evolution of nostalgia from its first identification in 17th-century Switzerland, when it was held to be an illness which could kill you, to the present day, when it is co-opted by advertising agencies and politicians alike to sell us goods and policies.  

The publisher said: “Arnold-Forster’s fascinating history of this complex, slippery emotion as a lens through which to consider the changing pace of society, our collective feelings of regret, dislocation and belonging, the conditions of modern and contemporary work, and the politics of fear and anxiety. It marks the trade debut of a brilliant young historian.” 

Morley said: “Agnes is one of the smartest young historians around and the idea of her writing about that most elusive – and potentially lethal – of emotions, nostalgia, is hugely exciting. We’re thrilled to be welcoming her to Picador.” 

Arnold-Forster added: “I am delighted to be working with George Morley at Picador, the perfect person and place for my history of nostalgia. Nostalgia is one of the many ways we communicate a desire for the past, dissatisfaction about the present, and our visions for the future. My book is not just a history but an analysis of what we are doing now, how we feel about it, and what we might want to change about the world in which we live.”