Greta Thunberg family memoir coming in March

Greta Thunberg’s "raw and powerful" family story, written largely by her mother Malena Ernman, will be published by Allen Lane on 5th March.

All proceeds from Our House is on Fire: Scenes from a Family and a Planet in Crisis will be donated to Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund and other non-profit organisations through a foundation. Alongside opera singer mother Ernman, it includes input from Thunberg, her father Svante and sister Beata.

Described as the young campaigner’s "founding story", it tells of her younger sister Beata’s high-functioning disorder, Ernman’s ADHD diagnosis and Thunberg’s own struggle.

The publisher explained: "Steered by Greta’s determination to understand the truth about the climate crisis, her family begins to see the deep connections between their own and the planet’s distress. Why has mental ill health in children aged 10-17 increased by over 100% in Sweden in 10 years? Why do girls and young women do worst? Is it the most highly sensitive among us who see and suffer the unbearable truth about the climate crisis?   

"Malena and Svante find themselves fighting social and educational systems designed to flatten out creativity and difference, which also foster ignorance and complacency about climate science and its implications. So they must find their own ways to manage their fears, heal as a family, and act in the world. This is when Greta, a selective mute until the day she first went on strike, recovers her voice and begins to reshape how humans think about their future."

UK and Commonwealth rights for the book, which has now sold in 30 territories, were acquired when Penguin Press landed Thunberg’s speech collection No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. That title has sold 244,028 copies through the TCM while an illustrated edition released ahead of Christmas sold 46,085.