Chatto & Windus signs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and husband Richard's 'landmark' memoir

Chatto & Windus has signed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe’s memoir, which promises to "change how we understand ourselves and our world". 

Becky Hardie, deputy publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from c.e.o. Jonny Geller and agent Viola Hayden at Curtis Brown. The memoir will be published in autumn 2023 in all formats. 

"The moment we were lucky enough to meet Nazanin and Richard, Viola and I knew that this was not just a special and important book, but it was a necessary one," said Geller. "The story is so powerfully told, it leaves the reader with emotions of anger, shame and sadness but most of all hope. It will be the publishing event of the year and Vintage will be our perfect partners." 

Hardie added: "This is a story for and of our times. It is about the power of love, the strength to resist, and Nazanin’s long journey home to her family. It is so human, so moving and so immediate, readers will be gripped from the start. But it brings with it important messages about our politics, and our roles as individuals in society. This is a book that will change how we understand ourselves and our world; it will be a landmark piece of publishing that will live on for decades to come. We could not be more honoured to have the chance to work with Nazanin and Richard and do justice to this very special book."

The memoir will tell, for the first time, the full untold story of Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment in Iran and her husband’s tireless campaign for her release. The publisher continued: "This is the story of one woman, one couple, one family fighting for their lives and for what is right. It is also a story about the power of individuals – and love – over geopolitical forces, and the power to survive, to resist and to create change. It is a detective story that exposes the dark workings of domestic and international politics, how close those forces really are for all of us and how little we know about them." 

Hannah Telfer, Vintage managing director, said: "Together, Nazanin and Richard have shown what love, hope and resistance can do in a world scarred by brutality and repression. Vintage is hugely privileged to be working with this inspiring couple to take these messages and their memoir to the wide readership it so deserves. How powerful and spine-tingling that Nazanin and Richard, reunited, will finally have the opportunity to share their deeply personal, and often unseen, story with the legions of people who supported them over the last six years."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: "Every single one of us has a story to tell. My story as a hostage is unique, but it is also the story of many other women in Iran in prison who are unknown but have helped me enormously to go through this journey and come out of it stronger. My story is a story of my own uncertainty, fear, faith, survival, hope and love but also the story of unity and solidarity from so many others. Their struggles continue today."

Ratcliffe commented: "Parts of our story were always on television, but some of the most important parts got missed. I’m glad to be able to share it all. Six years on our story feels like a discovery of the darker sides of governments, and of the kinder sides of people, but also across all the twists and turns simply how we survived. It took a village to get Nazanin home. I am really glad we have a happy ending to share."