Liz Caraffi, at Hodder & Stoughton, has pre-empted UK & Commonwealth rights to Becoming, a memoir by Laura Jane Williams from Ella Kahn at Diamond Kahn & Woods, for publication in June 2016.
After being dumped by the man she thought she was going to marry, Laura, hurt and bewildered, turned to excess in an effort to heal; misplacing her anger for one man with all men and using sex as a weapon. After one final lewd encounter Laura declared a vow of celibacy and moved to an Italian convent. Set in Paris, Rome, Detroit and Derby this is the story of her life before and her life after, the beginning and the end. Eat, Pray, Love meets Wild, Becoming is a memoir that shows how one year can change everything, even when it seems like you’d never know yourself again.
Laura Jane Williams started her blog, Superlatively Rude, over eight years ago. After gaining a first class degree in Creative and Media Writing she found herself travelling far and wide teaching English and writing across the globe. Championed by a host of social media influencers, Laura has written for publications from the Huffington Post and xoJane to The Guardian, and most recently featuring in Grazia.
Liz Caraffi says: ‘Becoming is the story of experience told with such truth, fluidity and grit I felt instantly that the narrative Laura stitched together could have easily belonged to me or any woman I know. In a time where there’s such a void for this kind of survive and thrive women’s non-fiction, Laura is the answer. I am beyond pleased that Laura chose Hodder to publish her memoir and cannot wait to continue the journey with her.’
Laura Jane Williams says: “Writing is how I make sense of myself, and always has been. I didn’t know it at the time, but I wrote myself out of heartbreak. I wrote myself the book I needed on my bedside table when I thought I couldn’t go on. I really hope people respond to that – the way Liz did gave me goosebumps. Our first meeting made me see stars with how engaged she was with the material, and the whole team made me proud a story that could’ve broken me actually turned out to be the making of me: emotionally, and creatively! That’s how I knew I’d found a publishing home. They just get it.”
Ella Kahn says: “When I first read Laura’s memoir, Becoming, it gave me a lump in my throat and shivers down the back of my neck. Her writing is raw, honest, engaging, and lyrically beautiful– and she puts into words what a lot of women of the millenial generation have felt, but are unable to express. Liz and her team completely understood this, and their enthusiasm and dynamic creativity convinced us that Hodder will be the ideal home for Laura’s work – we can’t wait to work with them!”
Hodder & Stoughton will publish the hardback in June 2016.
Previous Next