Graeme Macrae Burnet has been longlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel Case Study. This is the second time the Glasgow-based author has been nominated for the prize; he was shortlisted in 2016 for His Bloody Project.
Set in London in 1965, Case Study is the story of an unworldly young woman who believes that a charismatic psychotherapist, Collins Braithwaite, has driven her sister to suicide. Intent on discovering the truth, she assumes a false identity and presents herself to him as a client, recording her experiences in a series of notebooks. But she soon finds herself drawn into a world in which she can no longer be certain of anything.
In Case Study, Graeme Macrae Burnet presents these notebooks interspersed with the biography of Collins Braithwaite. The result is a dazzling, page-turning and wickedly humorous meditation on the nature of sanity, identity and truth itself, by one of the most inventive novelists writing today.
Case Study was published in October 2021 by independent publisher Saraband to universal critical acclaim. The Spectator called it ‘compelling… I was hooked like a fish’, The Times called it 'A page-turning blast, funny, sinister and perfectly plotted so as to reveal ― or withhold ― its secrets in a consistently satisfying way.’ The Irish Times described it as ‘compulsive reading’ and the Telegraph as ‘indecently entertaining’ in their Books of the Year roundup. Case Study has been longlisted for the Gordon Burn prize and shortlisted for an Australian Ned Kelly award. It was the Bookseller’s Association’s Fiction Book of the Month in October 2021.
Graeme Macrae Burnet says “I could not be more thrilled that Case Study has made it to the Booker longlist. For your work to be deemed worthy of being in the running for such a prize is incredibly gratifying. And all the more so to do it in partnership with the brilliant Saraband Books."
Saraband Publisher Sara Hunt says “I am absolutely delighted to see Case Study amongst the ‘Booker Dozen’. Graeme has an uncommon skill for packing literary excellence and intelligent, surprising subject matter inside a true page-turner. Case Study is a fantastic novel – playful, clever, stylish and witty, with emotional depth, and utterly captivating. I am so thrilled the judges have selected it for this prestigious longlist, and of course very happy for Graeme.”
Isobel Dixon, Graeme’s agent says, ‘Graeme Macrae Burnet’s dazzling and deviously clever CASE STUDY has delighted so many readers around the world already and it’s a real joy to see the Booker judges nominate it for this year’s longlist. I’m so thrilled for Graeme and for Saraband, who have published with such passion, and excited that the prize will help introduce Graeme’s brilliant work to an even wider readership.’
Notes for Editors:
Graeme Macrae Burnet
Born in Kilmarnock, Graeme Macrae Burnet is among the UK’s leading contemporary novelists, having achieved both critical acclaim and best-selling status around the world. He lives in Glasgow, where he studied film and English literature. After teaching English overseas and working as a researcher in the television industry, he won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2013 and now writes full-time. He is best known for his dazzling Booker-shortlisted second novel, His Bloody Project. Graeme is also the author of two French-set detective novels: The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau (2014) and The Accident on the A35 (2017). Case Study is his fourth novel.
Graeme is represented by Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann.
Saraband: 28 years of award-winning independent publishing
Saraband is an award-winning independent publisher of literary fiction and of non-fiction, in nature and place writing, memoir, and history. Over the last twenty-eight years our authors have won and been shortlisted in awards including the Booker Prize, Rathbones Folio Award, Paul Torday Memorial Prize, Wainwright prize for nature writing, Polari Prize, Portico Prize, Authors’ Club First Novel and the Saltire Society awards across all categories, amongst others. Many of these prizes and nominations have been for debuts, demonstrating a strong track record for discovering and nurturing talent.
Critical acclaim for Case Study
“Encourages us to look more closely at the inherent instability of fiction itself … genuinely affecting … a very funny book.” –NINA ALLAN, GUARDIAN
"Enormous fun … a mystery and a psychological drama wrapped up in one. Case Study is a triumph." – ALEX PRESTON, OBSERVER
"Caustically funny and surprisingly moving, this is one of the finest novels of the year." – CHRISTIAN HOUSE, FINANCIAL TIMES
"Brilliant, bamboozling … Burnet captures his characters’ voices so brilliantly that what might have been just an intellectual game feels burstingly alive and engaging.” – JAKE KERRIDGE, TELEGRAPH
"A riveting psychological plot ... tortuous, cunning ... clever." – KATE WEBB, THE TLS
“Compelling … I was hooked like a fish.” – LEYLA SANAI, SPECTATOR
“Poses questions about the nature of the self and the authenticity of identity … He is an uncommonly interesting and satisfying novelist.” – ALLAN MASSIE, SCOTSMAN
“Sinister and cleverly done.” – DAILY MAIL
“A page-turning blast, funny, sinister and perfectly plotted … Rarely has being constantly wrong-footed been so much fun.” – JAMES WALTON, THE TIMES
"A novel of mind-bending brilliance. Graeme Macrae Burnet is a master of muddying the waters, of troubling ideas of truth and identity, fiction and documentary, and Case Study shows him at the height of his powers." – HANNAH KENT
“A thrilling investigation into the nature of sanity and identity.” – ALICE O'KEEFFE, THE BOOKSELLER
“Fun and funny, sly and serious, a beguiling literary game that manages to say more about the nature of the self than any number of more self-consciously solemn works.” – DAVID SZALAY
"A wonderful book, very beautifully and intricately written, finely detailed and at times laugh-out-loud funny, populated by satisfying, well-drawn characters." – ARABELLA WEIR
“Undoubtedly one of the best books of the year.” – ALISTAIR BRAIDWOOD, SCOTS WHAY HAE
"A masterclass of diversion … blurring the lines of fiction and reality … serious and witty at once … an enthralling read." – HEATHER MCDAID, THE SKINNY