Hannah Murray will share the story of her mental health journey in a new memoir.
The Dial Press will publish the English actor’s The Make-Believe in the summer, the publisher announced in a news release. It calls the book “a wrenching, lyrical memoir” that explores “the spiritual awakening that turned into a mental breakdown, and the healing made possible when we learn to save ourselves.”
Murray first rose to fame playing the role of Cassie Ainsworth, a teenager struggling with an eating disorder, on the popular British drama series Skins. She went on to play Gilly in the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s novels, and has appeared in films including God Help the Girl, Bridgend, and Charlie Says.
In The Make-Believe, Murray tells the story of her struggle with mental health, which led her to join a wellness group at the behest of an energy healer. The Dial Press says that Murray “found herself sucked into a rigorous practice involving high control and financial outlay. And as her sense of reality began to slip, eventually resulting in her hospitalization and diagnosis with bipolar disorder, she realized she had fully ceded control of her life to this mysterious organization.”
Murray told People magazine, “I’m very very proud of this book, which has taken seven years to write. Throughout that process, I’ve felt empowered to be telling my own story and reclaiming my own narrative. I’m excited to share this story with readers, to let them inside a chapter of my life that was sometimes magical, sometimes chaotic, sometimes painful and dark.”
The Make-Believe is scheduled for publication on June 23.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
