EVERYONE I KNOW IS DYING

A razor-sharp literary-commercial crossover novel, combining an acerbic voice reminiscent of My Year of Rest and Relaxation with Sorrow and Bliss's vivid depiction of mental illness.

Emily's neurodivergent take on the millennial fiction novel is informed by her own experience of mental illness, and she subverts the familiar narrative of discovering and dealing with a specific trauma, choosing instead to explore clinical depression, which so often descends without a clear trigger or obvious solution.

When she's having sex with her boss, Iris likes thinking about how young and beautiful she is compared to his wife - it distracts her from the fact that she isn't actually attracted to him.

She also likes getting to the afternoon without having eaten anything except a handful of supplements and knows she will be the youngest person in her trendy London office to get promoted, even if she has spent every day of the last year coasting.

But when Iris finally gets the much-coveted promotion, the expected sense of triumph never arrives. Why, instead of celebrating, does she find herself sprawled on the floor of her hallway, crying uncontrollably?

As crippling depression threatens to overwhelm her, Iris finds solace in the arms of her flatmate George, who never fails to find the joy in simple things. The pair fall in love - a stable, unassuming, and unconditional love, but security soon starts to feel like suffocation for Iris.

So, when introduced to attractive, unattainable Patrick, Iris decides that unconditional love is demotivating. And maybe what she needed all along is the kind of love she has to work for...

Emily Slapper grew up in Northampton before studying Cinema and Photography at the University of Leeds and Creative Writing MA at Royal Holloway. In her spare time she loves walking around south-east London with her dog, Tina. Everyone I Know is Dying is her debut novel.