Ebury wins Robyn Wilder's 'deeply moving' memoir at four-way auction

Ebury has won a four-way bidding war to publish journalist Robyn Wilder’s “funny, frank and deeply moving” memoir, Reasons to be Fearful.

"The book tells the story of the author’s life through the fears which shape us all, as she grapples with her experiences of anxiety, grief, estrangement, postnatal depression, racism and a nervous breakdown – and finds love and family amidst the chaos,” the publisher said. “She writes with intimacy and wit about each of these challenges, and how she overcame them and, sometimes, how she didn’t quite manage."

Robyn Drury, commissioning editor for Ebury Press, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights at auction from Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton. Reasons to be Fearful is billed by Ebury as "funny, frank and deeply moving” and will be published in hardback and e-book in early 2021.

Drury said: "I’ve followed Robyn’s writing for years, and her book proposal made me an even bigger fan. A memoir that is both beautifully specific and painfully universal in the truths it tells us about our fears and anxieties, it combines her trademark black humour with incredible storytelling and great warmth. I know it’s a book that people will love, and will want to press on their friends, and I’m delighted that Ebury will be publishing it."

Wilder is a freelance journalist for the Times, Observer, Grazia and Stylist. She edits ‘The Naughty Step’ parenting email and podcast, writes columns for the Huffington Post and Boots Health and Beauty Magazine, and for three years was the Pool's 'Up With The Kids' parenting columnist. She was shortlisted for the Words by Women award for lifestyle journalism in 2016. 

Wilder added: "I'm hopeful that this book will resonate with people, and I'm looking forward to monetising my unhappinesses. Otherwise what's the point of them?"