Nobody's Empire A Novel

Stuart Murdoch

eBook - 2025

One of the great lyricists of our time, the lead singer and songwriter for the iconic Glasgow-based band Belle and Sebastian, pens a sensitive and intimate account—his debut novel based on his own youthful experiences—of dark days leading to light and a coming of age through music. It's the early 1990s in Glasgow, Scotland, and Stephen has emerged from a lengthy hospital stay. Diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, a little-understood disease which has robbed him of any prospects of work, friends, or independent living, he moves slowly toward new goals and meets others like him, including Richard, a friend from school, and Carrie, a young woman bedridden for five years. Feeling isolated and alone, they form their own support grou...p, and try to get by with as little money and pain as possible. Since he's been ill, Stephen never feels warm, inspiring Carrie to affectionately call him "The World's Coldest Boy." As the world seems to care less... more