Florence Given's Women Living Deliciously bought by Brazen

Brazen, an imprint of Octopus Books, has bought Women Living Deliciously by bestselling author of Women Don’t Owe You Pretty (Cassell), Florence Given.  

Publisher Romilly Morgan acquired world rights from Abigail Bergstrom at Bergstrom Studio. It will be published in hardback on 8th October 2024.  

The publisher says Women Living Deliciously “will help women uncover the sense of awe and wonder that has been buried by the layers of shame, perfectionism and self-objectification that gets piled on us by the patriarchy”. 

It continued: “For too long, we have internalised the belief that our bodies are things to be looked at – instead of lived in. That it’s embarrassing to fully express ourselves. That we cannot trust the parts of ourselves that are so full of desire. This book will unpack the many barriers women face when trying to access joy, so that they can discover the delicious life that’s theirs for the taking.” 

Octopus said it will launch a “major” publicity and marketing campaign to coincide with publication, including a national events tour for readers to experience Living Deliciously.  

Given said: “I have had the most beautiful time writing this book. I wrote this book because I needed it to exist. My hope is that a woman picks it up and finds one thing she can do in that instant that reminds her that her life belongs to her. Many of us believe joy is a luxury reserved for other people or a future version of ourselves. I want to give women permission to discover that they deserve to live a delicious life, today. 

"Joy is a feminist issue because most women have been socialised to deposit the valuable asset of our attention into our appearance, our physical safety and being as ‘perfect’ as possible. This hypervigilance subtly hums in the background of our lives and robs us of being fully in the present moment – the playground upon which all of life unfolds. Many of us don’t realise until it’s too late that we were chasing things in life we hadn’t chosen. I want to encourage more women to be intentional – with their time, with their attention, with their energy, with their romance and their joy. If we’re not: our lives will get designed for us.”