Call the Midwife's McGann pens memoir for S&S

Simon & Schuster UK has acquired a memoir from Stephen McGann, star of BBC series "Call the Midwife".

UK and Commonwealth rights to Flesh and Blood – A History of My Family In Seven Maladies, were acquired by Iain MacGregor, S&S publishing director for non-fiction, from Annabel Merullo at PFD.

In the memoir, McGann will celebrate his family’s diverse history across over a century of British cultural, economic and social life and delve into the past to unearth a cast of characters from both sides of his family, along with medical conditions and diseases his family suffered.

The book will also contain letters, diaries, photographs and detail medical knowledge he gained from studying for an MA in Medical Science.

MacGregor said: “Every so often a memoir comes across one’s desk that you instantly feel is a bona fide classic. Stephen is a born storyteller – and his narrative voice combines brilliantly with a range of compelling characters to give readers a truly unique historical insight.”

McGann added: “I have a lifelong interest in my family’s genealogical history, and also a keen interest in the social dimensions of public health. This book combines both in a unique and challenging way…Flesh & Blood is the story of how my family rose from poverty, starvation and disease in Victorian England to success, health and prosperity in the 21st Century. It’s a story told through the diseases and maladies that my family suffered – how these misfortunes molded the choices my ancestors made, and energised the people their descendants became.”

McGann’s first book was the TV tie-in Doctor Turner’s Casebook, which was published by Simon & Schuster UK in 2016.  

Flesh and Blood will be released as a hardback in the spring of 2017.