The Borough Press snaps up Emily Ostlere’s debut novel

The Borough Press has acquired Emily Ostlere’s "blackly funny and deeply moving" literary debut novel, I’m Not Normally Like This. 

Editorial director Jo Thompson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Alice Hoskyns and Sophie Lambert at C&W Agency on exclusive submission. US rights were acquired by Tessa James at William Morrow from Rebecca Gradinger at UTA. The book is scheduled for spring 2027.

The synopsis says: "Elodie isn’t normally like this. As a social worker, she doesn’t overstep. As a wife, she doesn’t stalk her husband’s phone. She doesn’t lie or manipulate people or obsess over strangers. Except, maybe she does. Sometimes your own red flags are the hardest to spot."

Thompson said: "The voice of Elodie in this novel just completely knocked my socks off. From the very first pages – where Elodie is tearing around a farming museum, a child lost in her care – I was hooked, in for a penny with this woman who is both deeply cynical and tender, gently delusional and wont to offer up the keenest emotional insights. There are many books about the ‘messiness’ of life but none that have chimed through me like this."

Ostlere added: "I wanted to write a story that rebels against the idea that personal growth is grabbing hold of your mess and clearing it up. Instead, Elodie moves from a lifetime of intellectualising her emotions to finally feeling them, in all their messy glory. Holding space for the lived experiences of real women is always at the heart of my writing. I hope readers find validation, humour and hope through this protagonist who is broken but still chosen, flawed but ultimately still loved."