Vermilion lands Lee's 'powerful' memoir on sexual freedom

Ebury imprint Vermilion has acquired Feeling Myself: How I Shed My Shame to Find Sexual Freedom and You Can Too, the "raw, powerful" non-fiction debut from Natalie Lee.

Senior commissioning editor Samantha Jackson acquired world rights from agent Valeria Huerta. Publication is slated for 9th June.

"Feeling Myself is an honest and powerful memoir," the synopsis explains. "Natalie Lee digs deep into her own relationship with sex to expose the shame that many of us feel. Taking us through her journey, from traumatic beginnings to marriage, motherhood and eventually experiencing sexual freedom after divorce in her 30s, it is a story of learning to be your true self in a society that doesn’t prioritise your pleasure. It is a book for every woman to feel empowered by and to learn the tools to experience their own emancipation too."

Lee began her career as a midwife before starting her blog, Style Me Sunday, in July 2012. Over nearly a decade, she has grown her platform from a blog to a brand, and now reaches women across various different mediums and has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. 

Throughout this time, she has run events, co-hosted "The Everything Project" podcast and taken part in a television project about women’s quests for better orgasms.

“I am so excited and thankful for being given this opportunity to publish my first book, Feeling Myself – I’ve wanted to write this book for so long," she said. "To be given the opportunity to have my voice heard feels like an extraordinary privilege and, if I’m really honest (and bit a cliché), a dream come true. This book has opened up, and enabled, a lot of understanding and healing to happen with myself and those around me. By sharing usually hidden parts of myself, I hope to help others to try to make sense of this world and the role they’ve played in it thus far.”

Jackson added: "Natalie is on a mission to take on the big taboos around sex and shame, and I couldn’t be prouder to be publishing her debut book. Natalie’s words are raw, powerful, compelling and inspiring, and I’m sure, like me, so much will resonate with readers. Her book is very much a manifesto and must-read for the modern woman."