Widely acclaimed writer and literary critic, Laing has been editor of the culture pages of The Observer, writes regularly for The Guardian, New Statesman and The Times Literary Supplement, among other media. She has received the MacDowell Fellowship, and also Arts Fellowships Council and Author's Foundation She is the Eccles writer-in-residence at the British Library Lives in Cambridge, England Her first book, To The River, met with critical and public success, was selected by the Royal Society for the Ondaatje Prize for Literature and to the Dolman for the best travel book of the year, shortlisted for the Costa Prize for the best Biography book of 2013 and the Gordon Burn Prize of 2014. His book The lonely city, an investigation into how some artists such as Hopper, Warhol or Henry Darger, the theme of loneliness in cities, has been a finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award and chosen book of the year by NPR, Newsweek, Slate, Pop Sugar, Marie Claire, Elle, Publisher’s Weekly and Lit Hub.

Loneliness is a feeling that every human being lives at a certain time. After abruptly ending a love relationship in New York, Laing was paralyzed by loneliness. The experience was so strong that, over the months, she began to feel strangely fascinated by it.