COMEDIAN Janey Godley is to publish her debut novel this summer and in a poignant case of fiction imitating real life, the book’s plot will mirror her own recent cancer diagnosis.
Set in Glasgow between 2019 and 1976, Nothing Left Unsaid opens with a woman summoning her family to hospital as she reaches the end of a battle with cancer.
According to the announcement by publishers Hodder & Stoughton, the lead character Senga "sends her eldest daughter to read her diary, determined to share a secret that she’s been holding on to for 40 years, and revealing the story of five women determined to survive against the odds."
Godley announced she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November. The novel, billed as a dual timeframe mystery, will be published on May 12.
She said: “This book saved my life during lockdown and gave me focus to write a love letter to all those women I grew up with in Glasgow.
“Writing in lockdown was hard and my brain kept freezing, but I really hope that I can transport people back to Glasgow in the 70s which wasn’t all bad. This is my first novel and I hope you all enjoy it.”
READ MORE: Six must-read Scottish books headed for TV and film
Rowena Webb from Hodder & Stoughton said: “I am hugely proud to be publishing Janey Godley’s brilliant fiction debut. Janey is the rarest of writers who can make you laugh out loud as well as move you to tears.
“Her characters in the 70s Glasgow they inhabit are so vividly real, just as you laugh your heart breaks for them too. We look forward to bringing her all success.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel