Helen Taylor 
The Backstreets of Purgatory 

Finn Garvie’s life is one spectacular mess. He spends most of his time fannying around a makeshift Glasgow studio, failing to paint his degree portfolio, while his girlfriend Lizzi treats him like one of her psychology patients, and his best friend Rob is convinced that the tattoos he designs are the height of artistic achievement.



To top it all, Finn is worried that some stinking bastard is hanging around, spying on him, laughing at his cock-ups and eating his leftover curry. Fortunately, he has plenty of techniques to distract him – tackling the church hall renovations with the help of his alcoholic neighbour; pining after Kassia, the splendidly stroppy au-pair; and re-reading that book on Caravaggio, his all-time hero.



Things take a turn for the strange when he finally encounters the person who’s been bugging him, and it seems to be none other than Caravaggio himself…



Art, truth and madness come to blows in this darkly funny debut novel from a startling new talent.





‘Fascinating and incredibly funny – this is a bold new voice in Scottish fiction’
17 Degrees




‘She has written a Scottish novel of significance and I can’t recommend it enough’ 
Scots Whay Hae




‘Memorable and intriguing’ 
Undiscovered Scotland

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Helen is the author of the novel The Backstreets of Purgatory (Unbound, 2018). She was brought up in the Lake District and the north-east of Scotland. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a junior doctor in Glasgow and then as a research scientist in Oxford and London. The profound effects of a severe psychiatric illness, during which she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, led her away from her intended career. Writing played a crucial role in her recovery. Her memoir love lay down beside me and we wept tells part of this story. She currently lives in France.