Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch will publish his debut novel, Nobody’s Empire, in September 2024, through HarperVia in North America and Faber in the United Kingdom. Part memoir and part fiction, the novel is set in Glasgow and California in the early 1990s and follows a character searching for “a new-world reinvention” after his hospitalization with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Murdoch, who composed and directed the 2012 movie God Help the Girl, said in a statement reported by The Bookseller, “I drifted into writing Nobody’s Empire. It felt like the right time to tell this story in long-form, even though I have been singing about it for years. I imagined I was writing it for the [myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome] community and as the book went on it became more important to me, gaining a life of its own. I needed it as much as it needed me and I leant heavily on it for solace. Therefore, when it was picked up by Faber for publication, I was elated and very relieved. Hopefully, this is the start of a beautiful relationship!”
Belle and Sebastian released their latest LP, Late Developers, in January.
