The Other Mrs Walker

Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year
The Other Mrs Walker is the beguiling debut from Mary Paulson-Ellis, for fans of Kate Atkinson and Sarah Waters.
Somehow she'd always known that she would end like this. In a small square room, in a small square flat. In a small square box, perhaps. Cardboard, with a sticker on the outside. And a name . . .
An old lady dies alone and unheeded in a cold Edinburgh flat on a snowy Christmas night. A faded emerald dress hangs in her wardrobe; a spilt glass of whisky pools on the floor.
A few days later a middle-aged woman arrives back in the city she thought she'd left behind, her future uncertain, her past in tatters.
She soon finds herself a job at the Office for Lost People, tracking down the families of those who have died neglected and alone.
But what Margaret Penny cannot yet know is just how entangled her own life will become in the death of one lonely stranger . . .
Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.
'One of the strongest debuts of the year' Herald
'Full of twists and turns' Independent
'A wonderful, inventive debut . . . I can't wait to see what this author has up her sleeve next' Fanny Blake, Daily Mail

Mary Paulson-Ellis lives in Edinburgh. Her critically acclaimed debut, The Other Mrs Walker was a Times bestseller and Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Her second, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing was long-listed for the McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime novel and a Historical Writers Association Gold Crown. Mary's short fiction has featured on BBC R4 and in 2019 Val McDermid named her one of ten exciting LGBTQ+ writers working today. In 2023 she was appointed the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow by Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature. Emily Noble's Disgrace is her third novel.