Ebury acquires singer Paloma Faith’s non-fiction debut on female identity 

Ebury imprint Happy Place Books has bought world all-language rights to singer-songwriter Paloma Faith’s MILF: Motherhood, Identity, Love and F*ckery. 

Former deputy publisher Lizzy Gray, now publisher at Bluebird, acquired the rights from Amanda Harris, global m.d. at YMU Literary. Publishing director Charlotte Hardman will publish with senior editor Anya Hayes in hardback and e-book on 6th June 2024. 

MILF “explores female identity and is part memoir, part polemic”, the publisher said. “Honest, raw, wickedly funny and brilliantly poignant, MILF is a powerful call-to-arms for any woman who has been sold the promise that they can ‘have it all’ but finds themselves overwhelmed by having to do it all. Paloma refuses to shy away from any aspect of motherhood. With her characteristic straight talking, in MILF, she says everything most of us are too afraid to say.” 

Commenting on the deal, Faith said: “This is a book designed to make women feel seen and acknowledged for what they do, something I don’t think happens enough. It’s about our silent mental load, our battle to do it all just to remain at pace with everything else going on around us. It’s a book about verbalising the fact that women are superheroes and should not, and will not, remain silent any longer about our contributions to society against all odds (of which there are a lot). It’s about making women feel seen and men hopefully that little bit more informed. Feminism has let us down and abandoned us with too much to do and we no longer should have to face inevitable burn-out as a result.” 

Hardman added: “I devoured every word of the script, nodding along furiously in agreement. Paloma brilliantly unpacks what it is like to be a mother without being defined by being a mother.”