Indie Novella

Murphy likes things quiet. As the barman at the Purses Retainer, a half-forgotten pub in North London, he treasures the silence left behind by absent customers. The empty seats are both a blessing and a curse: his sanctuary is safe, but the pub is on the brink of closure. Murphy has a gift for talking people into leaving him alone—long, winding stories that trap questions rather than answer them. But when the threat of redundancy looms, he sees an unlikely win-win: turn the pub into London’s first silent pub. No phones. No chatter. Just the perfect place for peace—until Instagram and the media get hold of it. As Murphy’s eccentric experiment spirals into a cultural phenomenon, he meets Rebecca, a yoga teacher who relieves not only his bad back but begins to unravel the grief and isolation he has carried for years. Suddenly, Murphy must confront the very things silence has helped him to avoid: friendship, identity, love—and the chaos of feeling alive. Wry, sharp and satirical, Murphy Who Talks is a comedy of modern Britain: a story about austerity and survival, male friendship and misogyny, silence and speech, and what it really takes to be heard.

Paul Johnson lives a quiet life. Teaching English in a Sheffield Comprehensive, looking after his daughter, cooking for his wife, the surface of his life is the height of stability. But Paul can't walk to his car without chanting to himself, trying to drown out the voice pulsing through his mind: You can't keep them safe. You can't keep them safe. He has learned how to calm his panicked students - but not himself. One grey morning, the calm veneer of his life is fractured when he discovers that his favourite student Laura has died. Now, his intrusive thoughts threaten to jeopardise everything. Facing accusations that he was too close to Laura, Paul must find a way to voice his darkest fears, unlearning the stoic masculinity passed down to him, or lose the family he loves.