Lily Allen's memoir to Blink

Bonnier Publishing imprint Blink has signed a memoir from Lily Allen to publish in autumn 2018.

Managing director Ben Dunn acquired world English language rights at auction from Claire Conrad at Janklow & Nesbit.

In the as-yet-untitled book, singer-songwriter Allen will write about the trauma and grief of losing a child, the highs and lows of fame, her family story, growing up in Britpop, Glastonbury and the infamous Groucho club, as well as about "the rebellion of her youth", money, co-dependency, drug and alcohol dependency, eating disorders, marriage, separation, recovery, motherhood and "moving forward with her life".

Allen said: “Some of it I think might be uncomfortable and shocking and brutal. There will be good stuff in there too; happy times. I will try and make it funny. I know it’s about me but I hope that a lot of it will ring true with anyone who reads it. It won’t be written with shame. It will be true.” 

Dunn said: “A book like this doesn’t come along very often. We were completely blown away by the proposal and sample material. It will not only appeal to her generation and fans of her music, but speaks to a wider polemic about the issues society faces today.”

The acquisition follows deals announced by Blink at Frankfurt Book Fair for the autobiographies of Take That's Gary Barlow in a pre-emptive bid and The Who's frontman Roger Daltrey after a nine-way auction.