Paperback: 352pp

Published: Lightning (April 2025)

ISBN: 9781785634178

Words Fail Me

Frances McKendrick

£9.99

A therapist’s job is to listen, not to get involved. Unless…

‘A dark and startling tale of righteous vengeance

VAL McDERMID

‘Complex, timely and full of compassion’

IAN RANKIN

When Jane – smart, funny, fortyish – says she’s a school counsellor, people assume it’s all about exam stress. If only.

Her teenage clients include Vaishali, who hates the perfect curves that draw the attention of adult men; Fraser, who cares devotedly for his mother but hurts his girlfriend by confusing real life with porn; and George, a trans boy who suffers from acute anxiety.

Harbouring terrible secrets from her own youth, Jane struggles to contain the anger these stories arouse in her. It’s only when she starts counselling her colleague Kass, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse whose trauma is resurfacing, that her thoughts turn to revenge…

Moving, entertaining and revelatory, Words Fail Me is a gripping page-turner, with a compelling mystery at its core and a hair-raising climax, which also shines a revealing light on contemporary adolescent agonies.

OUT APRIL 2025. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

Extracts

Tomorrow, on what, according to the Met Office, is shaping up to be a gloriously warm September day, I will die so that you can live. There’s something almost elegant about that, don’t you think?

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Extracts

Tomorrow, on what, according to the Met Office, is shaping up to be a gloriously warm September day, I will die so that you can live. There’s something almost elegant about that, don’t you think?

Oh, I know, if we were having this conversation for real, you would argue that you live just fine thank you very much, you cheeky bitch; but that’s not really true, is it? Yes, you exist, as you have done since you were five, when he started hurting you. But existing is not the same as living. You’d say that no therapist in their right mind would give up their life for the sake of a client– it’s not even a thing! And I’d reply that no, I don’t suppose it is, but don’t worry, nobody will make the connection between us, and my death won’t, I imagine, make the papers.

You’d cast up the maxim that I trotted out in your (and every client’s) first-ever session – therapists don’t save people; they help people to save themselves – asserting that what I’m about to do makes me a bad one, and I’d say yeah, fair enough, but that’s hardly relevant given that tomorrow I’m meeting my maker.

Then, incredulous, but still curious despite yourself, you’d regard me with those pale blue eyes and chew on your lip a little before breaking out in a wavering smile and asking: you’re not serious, are you?

And I’d say, of course I am, because you, Kass, have to live.

quotes

‘A startling read that unfurls from a therapist’s casebook into a dark tale of righteous vengeance’

Val McDermid

‘Fascinating, complex and sometimes controversial – timely, relevant and filled with compassion’

Ian Rankin

‘This insightful and absorbing novel explores the human condition through a therapist’s lens, giving rare glimpses into the demands and impact of the therapeutic process. Both a compelling psychological study and a moving reflection on the power of words and actions, Words Fail Me is a truly captivating read’

Angela Jackson

‘An incredible debut that takes you deep into the secret lives of a school therapist and her troubled teenage patients. Gripping, beautifully written, and full of priceless insight into a world forever hidden from most of us, Words Fail Me is the rare novel that will enlighten you even as it entertains you’

Simon Stephenson

reviews

extras

ABOUT

Frances McKendrick

Frances McKendrick is a psychotherapist and writer living in Edinburgh with her husband and two children.

She won the Isobel Lodge Award for her short fiction, which has also been shortlisted for the Bath Short Story Award and the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. Words Fail Me is her first novel.

selected works

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