The Make-Believe
A memoir of magic and madness
Published on 28. May 2026
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-1-5291-5521-1 (ISBN)
Description
In 2017, Hannah Murray was a successful actor whose career had taken her to Hollywood and given her the opportunity to act with A list stars and Oscar-winning directors. But as the daily costs of acting grew, from the degradations of auditions to repeating violent scenes over and over, Hannah found herself searching for something to make her feel better. One day, a reiki healer promises her a new kind of treatment, a kind of magic, and all of a sudden Hannah's life is changed.
Back in London, she becomes increasingly involved with the organisation behind the magic, an organisation whose charismatic leader, promises of secret knowledge, and increasingly complex rituals, are seductive, cult-like - and ultimately destructive, as Hannah finds herself on a week-long course from her friends and family - and her sanity falls apart. Detained in hospital, she struggles to understand the difference between what's real, and what's imagined. The result is a propulsive, shockingly honest, and extraordinarily intimate portrayal of a mind taken over the edge.
From the outer edges of fame, through Hollywood film sets and London parties, Hannah's life has slowly moved from that of a successful starlet to that of a young woman seduced by the magical thinking of an organisation that promises health and happiness beyond her wildest dreams, but her reality becomes far more disturbing than she could ever have imagined.
Shocking, intimate and compulsive, The Make-Believe is an ultimately uplifting and inspiring story of empathy, resilience and the power of belief.
Back in London, she becomes increasingly involved with the organisation behind the magic, an organisation whose charismatic leader, promises of secret knowledge, and increasingly complex rituals, are seductive, cult-like - and ultimately destructive, as Hannah finds herself on a week-long course from her friends and family - and her sanity falls apart. Detained in hospital, she struggles to understand the difference between what's real, and what's imagined. The result is a propulsive, shockingly honest, and extraordinarily intimate portrayal of a mind taken over the edge.
From the outer edges of fame, through Hollywood film sets and London parties, Hannah's life has slowly moved from that of a successful starlet to that of a young woman seduced by the magical thinking of an organisation that promises health and happiness beyond her wildest dreams, but her reality becomes far more disturbing than she could ever have imagined.
Shocking, intimate and compulsive, The Make-Believe is an ultimately uplifting and inspiring story of empathy, resilience and the power of belief.
Reviews / Votes
Beautifully written, harrowing, unexpectedly funny and genuinely jaw-dropping. * Vogue * An extraordinary memoir - propulsive, immersive; like nothing I have ever read before. I read it in one day and thought about it for weeks afterwards. -- Dolly Alderton, author of EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE The Make-Believe is a page-turning and generous book that is intensely concerned with what it means to be human. Hannah Murray is a masterful storyteller. -- Rebecca Watson, author of I WILL CRASH I was deeply moved and compelled by this vital, brave, memoir. Murray's account of her experience is intensely open-hearted and lyrical, depicting just how porous the boundaries and realities of our lives can become. A stunning achievement. -- Sophie Mackintosh, author of CURSED BREAD A mind-blowing memoir, exquisitely told. * Red Magazine * A memoir of real literary power that wields a writer's full toolkit, with finger-biting dramatic irony, vivid sensory evocation and pithy statements of uncomfortable truth. The premise is fascinating, but her execution is what makes this story uniquely compelling. -- Naoise Dolan, author of THE HAPPY COUPLE This book is brilliantly and beautifully written, fast-flowing, deeply felt and observed. Hannah Murray is a writer of tremendous skill and fearlessness. -- Daisy Johnson, author of EVERYTHING UNDER and SISTERS Reading The Make-Believe, I shivered as I recognized the terror and seduction entwined in Hannah Murray's story. This memoir is harrowing, yes-but it is also exquisitely written, tracing the fracture of a mind and the fierce, fragile work of reclaiming it. The cult memoir world needed this book. -- Daniella Mestynaek Young, author of UNCULTURED In The Make-Believe, Hannah Murray traces the subtle architecture of belief: how need becomes trust, and trust becomes surrender. What makes this memoir so remarkable is what Murray resists-she does not cast herself as a victim or offer easy lessons. Instead, she reveals, moment by moment, how a person in search of healing can gradually lose herself. The power lies in the restraint, in the questions left unanswered. This is a book about the cost of wanting to be saved. -- Ruth Wariner, New York Times bestselling author of THE SOUND OF GRAVEL An utterly exceptional memoir ... A lyrical, powerful examination of what it means to be "well". -- Elizabeth DayMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 219 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-5521-1 (9781529155211)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2026
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€14.99
Available for download
Book
05/2026
Penguin
€21.50
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Person
Hannah Murray worked as an actor for over a decade, starring in E4's Skins and HBO's Game of Thrones. She studied English at Cambridge University and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. The Make-Believe is her first book.