S&S bags Kamala Harris biography

Simon & Schuster UK is to publish Kamala’s Way, a biography of the new US vice president elect Kamala Harris, written by journalist Dan Morain.

Non-Fiction publishing director Holly Harris pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights from Marie Florio at Simon & Schuster US. 
 
The biography explores Harris' journey from early career to Joe Biden's presidential campaign. The synopsis explains: "In Kamala’s Way, he [Morain] charts her career from its beginnings handling child molestation cases and homicides for the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and her relationship as a 29-year-old with the most powerful man in the state: married Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, a relationship that would prove life-changing.

"Morain takes readers through Harris’ years in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, explores her audacious embrace of the little-known Barack Obama, and shows the sharp elbows she deployed to make it to the US Senate. He analyses her failure as a presidential candidate and the behind-the-scenes campaign she waged to land the vice president spot. Along the way, he paints a vivid picture of her values and priorities, the kind of people she brings into her orbit, the sorts of problems she’s good at solving, and the missteps, risks, and bold moves she’s made on her way to the top."

Morain has covered Californian politics for more than four decades as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee.

Commenting on the acquisition, Holly Harris said: "We are so proud to be publishing this fascinating and insightful biography of America’s first female Vice President. Her story is so inspiring, and Dan Morain tells it brilliantly."

The biography is set for publication on 12th January 2021, in time for Harris’ inauguration.