Mulcahy Conway Associates

Rachel Murphy

Rachel Murphy has worked as a journalist for twenty years, writing extensively for the national press and magazines. She began her Fleet Street career at The Daily Mirror, where she worked for many years as a news reporter and senior feature writer before leaving to freelance and raise her three children.

In 2009 Rachel co-wrote Living with Evil, Cynthia’s Owen’s horrific story of brutality and loss, and her incredible fight for justice. Published by Headline, it became the number one bestselling hardback in Ireland and spent 14 consecutive weeks in the Sunday Times non-fiction paperback bestseller list in the UK in 2010. The book continues to receive excellent reviews and was described by the Sunday Times’ Justine McCarthy as ‘a crucially important social document for Ireland.’

Following John Hartson’s battle with testicular cancer, Rachel co-wrote Please Don’t Go, which documents the former football star’s fight for life. Published by Mainstream, it was shortlisted for best autobiography at the British Sports Book Awards 2011 and has consistently received five-star reviews. The Sports Bookshelf said: ‘The story of former Arsenal, Celtic and Wales striker John Hartson’s remarkable battle against cancer has won plaudits not only for its harrowing candour but also for the quality of the narrative, which intersperses the player’s account with the thoughts of his then-pregnant wife, Sarah, and extracts from a diary kept by his sister, Victoria. In this respect, Please Don’t Go clearly benefits from the skill of ghostwriter Rachel Murphy.”

Rachel recently co-wrote Mum’s List by St John Greene. It tells the heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting story of how St John, known as Singe, is raising his two young sons Reef and Finn following the death of their mum, his wonderful wife Kate. She wrote a list of things for Singe to do with the boys after her death, urging him to continue to live life to the full as they always had done as a family, despite the fact both their young sons had also come close to death in the past. Mum’s List will be published by Penguin (Michael Joseph) in March 2012 and will be translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Portuguese and Indonesian.

Currently, Rachel is writing the memoirs of Linda Fairley, Britain’s longest serving midwife. The Midwife’s Here! will be published next summer by Harper Collins, and will tell the story of the early years of Linda’s fascinating career as a trainee nurse and young midwife in Manchester in the1960s and early 1970s.