I Made You Up Inside My Head
On sale
2nd July 2026
Price: £24.99
‘Thrums with the momentum of a page turner’
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars
‘Addictive’
Ledia Xhoga, author of Misinterpretation
‘ Brilliant . . . A novel about a shocking literary scandal and relationships gone wrong’
CJ Hauser, author of The Crane Wife
‘One of those books that make it worth clearing your afternoon to just sit back and lose yourself in the reading of it’
Vogue
On a sleeper train from London and Edinburgh, a woman and two strangers pass the time by telling stories about their lives.
One man reveals the true story behind the novel he wrote: the young man, Hans, who trusted him with intimate details about his life, and whose confidence he betrayed when he converted Hans’s life into fiction for his own gain.
As her cabin-mates reveal that Hans has since disappeared, with foul-play suspected, Alicia becomes gripped by the question of what really happened between the two men. She begins to re-examine her own memories, to try and discern what brought her to this point – and her involvement in the story told that night soon goes beyond a mere observer.
I Made You Up Inside My Head questions the stories we tell ourselves and others, and the fine line that separates reality from fiction – all while weaving an engrossing tale of betrayal, loss and guilt.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars
‘Addictive’
Ledia Xhoga, author of Misinterpretation
‘ Brilliant . . . A novel about a shocking literary scandal and relationships gone wrong’
CJ Hauser, author of The Crane Wife
‘One of those books that make it worth clearing your afternoon to just sit back and lose yourself in the reading of it’
Vogue
On a sleeper train from London and Edinburgh, a woman and two strangers pass the time by telling stories about their lives.
One man reveals the true story behind the novel he wrote: the young man, Hans, who trusted him with intimate details about his life, and whose confidence he betrayed when he converted Hans’s life into fiction for his own gain.
As her cabin-mates reveal that Hans has since disappeared, with foul-play suspected, Alicia becomes gripped by the question of what really happened between the two men. She begins to re-examine her own memories, to try and discern what brought her to this point – and her involvement in the story told that night soon goes beyond a mere observer.
I Made You Up Inside My Head questions the stories we tell ourselves and others, and the fine line that separates reality from fiction – all while weaving an engrossing tale of betrayal, loss and guilt.
Reviews
I was ensnared in the web that this cosmopolitan novel wove . . . I was spellbound
A true testament to the faith and power of words and of literature . . . captivates the reader from the very first page with mounting tension and incomparable beauty
An unexpected adventure. A subtle web of stories and words that fascinates and envelops you, capturing you without warning, like a child who listens open-mouthed to a beautiful story. A powerful and unforgettable debut.
Marta Pérez-Carbonell's debut thrums with the momentum of a page turner while the sentences carry the grace of a great work of art. You'll think about storytelling and the "truth" anew after reading this beauty
Pérez-Carbonell weaves a polyrhythmic narrative whose threads and patterns become addictive and leave behind an indelible impression
A brilliant debut full of curiosity and intellect. A novel about a shocking literary scandal and relationships gone wrong and about the deeper questions of how we make meaning of the people who pass through our lives, for a season or a moment on a train. Readers of Katie Kitamura and Rachel Cusk rejoice, you have a new favourite writer to explore in Marta Pérez-Carbonell