Menopausing

The final judging panel crowned the Non-Fiction Lifestyle & Illustrated Book of the Year winner, Menopausing, as The British Book Awards’ Overall Book of the Year. They thought the “impressive” book captured Davina McCall’s voice and passion.

Our judges praised Menopausing as a “taboo-busting” book, which effectively wove McCall’s warmth with Dr Naomi Potter’s expertise, helping to normalise menopause as a topic of discussion. HQ’s “exhaustive”, “agile” marketing campaign, combined with high-profile interview slots, brought menopause into the mainstream last year.

The discussion was chaired by The Bookseller’s books editor Alice O’Keeffe and the judges comprised Anita Singh, arts and entertainment editor at the Telegraph; Andrew Holgate, former literary editor of the Sunday Times; Hazel Broadfoot of Village Books, Dulwich, and president of the Bookseller’s Association; Krishnan Guru-Murthy, presenter of Channel 4 News; and Zoey Dixon, library hubs manager at Lambeth libraries and chair of Youth Libraries Group for London.Ultimately, our panel felt Menopausing captured the zeitgeist of 2022, shining a light on women’s health and topping 160,000 copies through Nielsen’s TCM.