Grace Murray's Blank Canvas, her debut novel, is stunning in its ferocious quietude. Charlotte, in a university in upstate New York tells a lie - her father died over the summer. Back in the UK, her father is preparing to visit. Murray draws Charlotte so brilliantly on the page from the outset that you want to love her, even despite the lies, and when her relationship with Katarina blossoms you feel love for them both - but as the reader you know there is this bomb, waiting to go off. Blank Canvas is a truly gripping novel, a fantastic debut, and marks Murray out as a writer to watch. I gulped this one down in one sitting, breathless. Highly recommended. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Charlotte is in her final year at a small liberal arts school in upstate New York. And she begins it by telling a lie: that her father died suddenly over the summer. Charlotte has never really fit in with her classmates and she doesn’t feel things the way others do. Lying is second nature to her. She sees herself as predestined to lie while others are predestined to be good, so what’s the point in trying. But then she embarks on a relationship with fellow student Katarina. Suddenly she’s starting to understand the emotions that have eluded her and she wants to be good. But how can she admit she lied about her father’s death?Sensual, emotional, witty, assured and original, Blank Canvas is a small book that makes a big impact. An extraordinary debut, Grace Murray showcases herself as an outstanding literary talent to watch. Exquisitely written, multi-layered and acutely observed, this book oozes malaise, heartache and dysfunction. It will consume you, Murray holding you in her thrall from the first page to the last. Protagonist Charlotte is a fractured, flawed and xx character. Her inner monologue hypnotises you as Murray slowly lays bare her grief, trauma and dysfunction. It is impossible to turn away, even as you see the car crash heading her way. Her relationship with Katarina is full of the intensity and transformation of first love while also being complicated by her lies. It’s beautiful, raw and real, humanising Charlotte when she starts out as someone pretty hard to relate to. This is also where we begin to see Charlotte really crave some kind of bond, something she has never wanted before, highlighting the human need for connection in even the most solitary of souls.A magnificent debut that will leave you breathless, this is a must-read. I can’t wait for whatever Murray writes next.

Blank Canvas by Grace Murray Charlotte, an art student, begins her final year at a New York university by telling a lie - that her father has died over the summer. But he's still alive and well in her home town in Staffordshire, not London as she has told the other students. As she begins a serious romantic relationship with one of her classmates and her social circle expands it's only a matter of time before it all unravels. This is a great novel that makes you feel awkwardness on Charlotte's behalf. But the author very cleverly makes Charlotte flawed so we don't just pity her, we are carried along being annoyed, shocked and sorry for her by turn. A very engaging and compelling novel - can't wait to see what the author writes next. Very highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Given this is a debut novel, Blank Canvas has be thoroughly impressed and I found myself enjoying it far more than I initially expected. While our MC, Charlotte, is undeniably flawed - often distant, guarded and prone to poor decisions - she ultimately became a character I deeply sympathised with. Beneath her sharp observations and emotional detachment is a well of suppressed pain that slowly comes into focus over the course of the novel, and this gradual reveal is one of the book's greatest strengths. Grace Murray does an excellent job of capturing what it feels like to be young, lonely, and unsure of who you're allowed to be. Charlotte's attempts to reinvent herself, while ethically questionable, feel rooted in a genuine desperation to belong and to escape a past she doesn't know how to confront. As the story progresses, her emotional walls being to crack, and those moments of vulnerability made her feel increasingly real and human. The novel's understated style works well for this kind of character study. Rather than relying on dramatic twists, Blank Canvas lets it impact build quietly through character development and emotional tension. By the end, Charlotte's journey felt earned, and the themes of identity, guilt and self-forgiveness lingers. Thank you to NetGalley and the publish for providing me with this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend!