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Square Peg acquires Hirsch’s radical exploration of rituals and beauty
Square Peg has signed Decolonising My Body: A Radical Exploration of Rituals and Beauty by Afua Hirsch, the author of Brit(ish) (Jonathan Cape).
Marianne Tatepo, publishing director, acquired world all-language rights from Bill Hamilton at A M Heath. The book will be published in October 2023 as a unique high spec, four-colour narrative book.
In Decolonising My Body, Hirsch takes the reader on a global exploration of ancestral rituals and traditions, uncovering how mainstream beauty standards have evolved throughout history and how marginalised groups, particularly in the Global South, can transcend them and embrace their cultural roots.
The publisher said: “Weaving historical scholarship with memoir and on-the ground interviews, this is a global exploration of social mores. Starting with colonialism’s annihilation of native rituals and beauty standards, Hirsch investigates the history of puberty, beauty, sexuality, skin and death. Starting in her native Wimbledon, she shares lores and stories from her deeply scientific Jewish father and spiritual Ghanaian mother.
Hirsch said: “This book has come so naturally as a product of my work and evolution since publishing my last book Brit(ish). It feels like the book I really needed to read at this stage — it’s a real joy to bring it to life with the incredible team at Square Peg and the vision of Marianne Tatepo. I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Tatepo said: “Following on from the success of her Sunday Times-bestselling and award-winning début, Brit(ish), published in 2018 by my brilliant colleagues at Jonathan Cape, it’s an honour to be publishing a polymath like Afua, who I first met in 2016. Her multifarious perspective as a university professor, journalist, barrister, mother and woman makes for a rich tapestry and powerful narrative about reclaiming one’s cultural identity. Afua’s coinage and unravelling of our ‘ancestry deficiency syndrome’ will speak to many and has already shaken me to my very core – I can’t wait for everyone to soak up her wisdom and luscious writing.”
