W&N bags debut novel from comedian Isy Suttie

Weidenfeld & Nicolson is publishing the debut novel of comedian, actress and writer Isy Suttie, Jane is Trying, in July.

Isy, who played Dobby in "Peep Show" and Esther in "Shameless", is the author of memoir The Actual One published by Orion in 2016. 

While her memoir was described as "an ode to the confusing wilderness of your late twenties", Suttie's first novel centres on Jane, who has been trying for a baby with increasing desperation as her thirties sail by.

"Now, she’s trying to make a new start back home with her overprotective, charades-playing parents – having left her career and cheating fiancé behind in London," reads the book's synopsis. "And she’s trying to convince herself she didn’t leave the gas on. (Jane’s not anxious. She just wants to make 100% sure that nothing bad’s going to happen to her. EVER.) With an increasing load on her plate, friends and family who think if she only listens to them she’ll have a perfect life, and a brain that questions every decision she’s ever made, can Jane conquer her demons and step forward on her own?"

Lettice Franklin, editorial director at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, called it a book that "will light up 2021", branding it "funny, warm, touching and compelling", to be "adored by anyone who loved Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts or Emma Jane Unsworth’s Adults". She added: "From the all-too-familiar bookshop author event to the Foley charades tournament, it is a joy from start to finish."

Franklin acquired world rights from Robert Kirby at United Agents, and Jane is Trying is due to publish with W&N in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio in July 2021.