Coronet lands ‘spellbinding’ memoir by Oscar winner Viola Davis in six-way auction

Coronet has bagged award-winning actress Viola Davis’ “powerful” début memoir in a six-way auction.

Joelle Owusu-Sekyere, commissioning editor at Coronet, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Finding Me from the Creative Artists Agency. It will be published, in tandem with an audiobook version read by the author and a US edition, on 26th April 2022. 

The publisher said the book charts "her course from an impoverished childhood beginning in South Carolina, where she and her family lived in a one-room shack before relocating to Rhode Island, where they remained desperately poor". The synopsis goes on: "Davis is the fifth of sixth children. Her father was a horse trainer, an alcoholic who was frequently violent; her mother worked as a maid and a factory worker, as well as a civil rights activist. 

“Though Davis was frequently in trouble during high school, during a time when a cafeteria lunch was often her only meal, she went on to college and then was awarded a scholarship to Juilliard. She became the first African-American to achieve the "triple crown of acting": an Oscar for her role in ’Fences’, two Tony Awards, and an Emmy for playing the lead in ’How To Get Away With Murder’. Hers is a story of overcoming, a true hero’s journey. Deeply personal, brutally honest, and riveting, Finding Me is a timeless and spellbinding memoir that will capture hearts and minds around the globe.”

Owusu-Sekyere said: “I am thrilled to be publishing Viola’s début book and it is a real ‘pinch me’ moment. Finding Me is one of the most striking and powerful memoirs I’ve read, and I am excited for everyone to dive into Viola’s world – in her own words – for the first time. The writing is distinctively Viola: hilarious, tender and punchy. We already know her as acting royalty, I cannot wait for the world to see how talented she is as a writer.” 

Davis, who will next star as Michelle Obama in Showtime’s "The First Lady", commented: “I’m an artist because there’s no separation from me and every human being that has passed through the world. I have a great deal of compassion for other people, but mostly for myself.”