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Chatto & Windus to publish Margaret Atwood's 'landmark' memoir in November 2025
Chatto & Windus will publish Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood on 4th November 2025.
Becky Hardie, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Karolina Sutton at CAA. The book will be published simultaneously in Canada by McClelland & Stewart and in the US by Doubleday.
Publication will “feature an unmissable, global campaign of standout media moments and in-person events with Margaret Atwood”, Chatto said.
The publisher added: “This landmark publication will explore the life and work of one of our most influential cultural figures, from her peripatetic childhood in the Canadian far north, through the writing of The Handmaid’s Tale, to her position today as a literary icon.”
The blurb reads: “Raised by ruggedly independent, scientifically minded parents – entomologist father, dietician mother – Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec. This childhood was unfettered and nomadic, sometimes isolated but also thrilling and beautiful.
“From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel year that spawned Cat’s Eye to divided 1980s Berlin where she began The Handmaid’s Tale.
“In pages bursting with bohemian gatherings, her magical life with the wildly charismatic writer Graeme Gibson and major political turning points, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood actors and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel. As we travel with Atwood along the course of her life, more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art – and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.”
Atwood, who is based in Toronto, Canada, said: “I sweated blood over this book – there was too much life to stuff in and if I’d died at 25, like John Keats, it could have been shorter – but I also laughed a lot. A memoir is what you can remember, and you remember mostly stupid things, catastrophes, revenges, and times of political horror, so I put those in – but I also added moments of joy, and surprising events and, of course, the books.”
The 85-year-old is the author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy (all published by Chatto).
Atwood’s 1985 classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments (Chatto), which was a global number one bestseller and shared the Booker Prize. She has won numerous other awards and has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer.
