We’re thrilled to introduce new author and Hackney resident Kate Murray-Browne to Pages to discuss her debut novel, The Upstairs Room. The discussion will be chaired by Sarah Savitt, publisher at Virago.

Eleanor, Richard and their two young daughters recently stretched themselves to the limit to buy their dream home, a four-bedroom Victorian townhouse in East London. But the cracks are already starting to show. Eleanor is unnerved by the eerie atmosphere in the house and becomes convinced it is making her ill. Whilst Richard remains preoccupied with Zoe, their mercurial twenty-seven-year-old lodger, Eleanor becomes determined to unravel the mystery of the house’s previous owners – including Emily, whose name is written hundreds of times on the walls of the upstairs room.

Kate Murray-Browne was born and lives in London. She studied English at Cambridge University and worked in publishing for ten years, previously at Faber & Faber, before becoming a freelance editor. She is also a visual artist and has exhibited work in a number of different galleries. The Upstairs Room is her first novel.

Sarah Savitt is currently Deputy Publisher at Virago and previously worked at Headline, Faber and David Godwin Associates. Authors she has published include Kate Hamer, Louise Doughty, Sara Pascoe, Karen Rose and Hanif Kureishi.

“A very impressive debut. The story is played out in an unsettling narrative that makes you want to read on to the end.”
Michael Frayn
“An incredible read. Clever, chilling, I couldn’t put it down”
Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble With Goats and Sheep.
“A gripping and impressive story of mounting terror. Spellbinding”
John Carey
“The Upstairs Room is the real thing. Frightening and clever and full of atmosphere.”
Susan Hill, author of The Woman In Black