Bryson comes out of retirement to reveal Christmas history for Audible

Bill Bryson has temporarily come out of retirement to write and narrate The Secret History of Christmas, a non-fiction title exploring the origins of festive traditions, for Audible.

Publisher Harry Scoble secured world all language rights from Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton. The novella-length audio title will be released exclusively as part of Audible’s Originals catalogue on 10th November 2022.

The Secret History of Christmas will see Bryson explore the "surprising stories behind everything from Good King Wenceslas to mince pies, A Christmas Carol to the true identity of Santa Claus". 

Bryson is an award-winning American author, known for bestselling non-fiction titles including A Short History of Nearly Everything (Black Swan), Notes From a Small Island (William Roberts) and At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Doubleday). The author has previously partnered with Audible on titles including The Body: A Guide for Occupants and the podcast "Bill Bryson’s Appliance of Science".  He previously announced during the pandemic in 2020 that he was retiring from writing.

Aurelie De Troyer, senior vice-president of international content at Audible, commented: “We are absolutely delighted that Bill Bryson has come out of retirement to partner with Audible on this exclusive exploration of the weird and wonderful origins of Christmas traditions. Bill is a favourite author and narrator for Audible members, and we can think of no one better to whisk listeners away on this festive adventure”

“Christmas is full of traditions and rituals that most of us have been observing all our lives but often without having the slightest idea of where they come from," he said. "Why is it called Boxing Day, for example? Why do we sing about Good King Wenceslas — who wasn’t a king or possibly even good and had nothing to do with Britain?  What’s the story behind Christmas crackers? And who would have guessed that one of our most popular Christmas carols began as a kind of semi-pornographic Welsh folksong? 

"And how, above all, did a bishop from the dawn of Christianity, one of the most venerated of ancient saints, turn into the plump and jolly figure of Santa Claus, with a flying sleigh and a home at the North Pole? Somebody must have decided these things. They can’t have happened by chance. So Christmas, and how it got that way, is full of surprises. And that is what this audio presentation is all about.”