Nicky Campbell joins the Hodder family

Hodder & Stoughton will publish broadcaster Nicky Campbell's memoir One of the Family, which will focus on family, adoption, mental health and Campbell's "miracle dog" Maxwell. 

Rowena Webb, publisher, bought world rights from Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown. The memoir will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in February 2021.

Campbell is the co-presenter of ITV's "Long Lost Family" and host of BBC Radio 5 Live's "5 Live Breakfast". In his memoir, he will open up about how being adopted has always made him feel like an outsider; the guilt he has carried towards his Mum and Dad for needing to trace his birth mother, and the crushing disappointment he felt when he finally met her. For the first time, he will also reveal details about his emotional breakdown and how he has learned to live with a late diagnosis of bipolar disorder. 

Campbell will also reveal how the pure and simple love of his labrador turned his life around and allowed him to see all the good in his life: from the security and safety of his childhood home, the love of his wife and four daughters and, above all, to better understand the decisions taken by his birth mother to give him up for adoption. 

Webb said: "Nicky’s courage and honesty in writing his story makes this a very special book. And it wouldn’t have happened without a very special dog called Maxwell. It’s a book for life! And I can’t wait for others to read it too."

Campbell commented: "The beauty and simplicity of Maxwell’s world has helped me re-connect to my childhood and to Candy, the first dog I loved so deeply. Through this, I was able to understand my adoption and identity with greater clarity and to appreciate the true meaning of family and belonging."

Campbell recently launched a podcast called "One of the Family", exploring how our lives and those of our canine companions are intertwined, featuring guests including Gary Lineker, Ricky Gervais, Gabby Logan, Nihal Arthanayake and Chris Packham.

He published an earlier book about his hunt for his birth mother, Blue-Eyed Son, with Pan Macmillan in 2004.