Hodder & Stoughton lands Oldfield's debut book

Hodder & Stoughton has landed Elizabeth Oldfield’s debut book, Fully Alive: Soul Searching for the 21st Century. 

Publishing director Andy Lyon acquired world rights from Sophie Lambert at C&W Agency. The book will be published in spring 2024 in both the US and UK. 

Oldfield is a public intellectual voice who hosts the podcast "The Sacred". On her podcast she "explores the deep values of a range of guests" such as "Great British Bake Off" judge Prue Leith, author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera and author Francis Spufford. 

Fully Alive is a collection of personal essays "playfully organised around the seven deadly sins". The publisher continued: "To find the answers her soul craves, Elizabeth draws on the somewhat unlikely source of the Christian faith, and how—perhaps improbably—its rituals and practices have more value than we might think in considering how we might find serenity, live with wisdom and become the kind of person that the world needs in a crisis." 

Joanna Davey, editorial director, commented: "In challenging and disquieting times, we tend to seek out people or practices that will calm and guide us. Elizabeth Oldfield is one of those people and her debut book, Fully Alive, will be the tiller to help us navigate the choppy waters of our cultural moment with meaning, hope and clarity. I couldn’t be more excited about Elizabeth’s writing, ideas and approach to life."

Oldfield added: "I’m really delighted to be partnering with the Hodder team on this book. I’ve spent my career, spanning media and policy, trying to lever open space for the deeper questions: How do we live with the pain of being a person? Why is loving and being loved so hard? Where can we find meaning, even wisdom? The world is turbulent, so I’m intent on becoming the kind of braver, steadier and more fiercely loving person I think we are going to need."