Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Narrative
Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Narrative Shortlist
This year’s shortlist for Narrative Non-Fiction is exceptionally strong, with three of the nominated titles making headlines well beyond the books pages, and in some cases leading the news agenda. The list is rounded out with frank and honest memoirs from a working-class actor, a Brummie rock legend and a Booker Prize-winning author.
Winner
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, co-written by Amy Wallace
Doubleday
Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s posthumously published memoir Nobody’s Girl, written with Amy Wallace, was a standout in this category. The judges called it a “courageous”, “completely devastating” and “essential” read, and a memoir of “totemic power”. Nobody’s Girl “will stay in my bones”, one judge said. Another predicted that it would “change the world”.
The panel were also in awe of Doubleday’s “agile” publishing, which kept Giuffre at the forefront of the narrative. One judge called the book’s cover “definitive”, with the half-blurred photograph of Giuffre symbolising the way “she comes into focus as you read the book”.
Doubleday worked with selected and trusted media partners when promoting the book, ensuring Giuffre’s voice remained at the centre, even with the revelations that threatened to drown out her story. Their poignant marketing campaign focused on the message: #BelieveHer: “Now, we stand up for her.” The panel declared Nobody’s Girl a “titanic” achievement.
The Shortlist
A Mind of My Own
Kathy Burke
Gallery UK
The first memoir from the beloved actor and director Kathy Burke is not only her own life story but also a love letter to working-class Islington in the 1970s and ’80s, where she grew up. A splashy cover interview with Caitlin Moran for the Times Magazine drove pre-orders and publication week saw two sold-out events with Waterstones, in London and Manchester, with the author on stage interviewed by Roisin Conaty. S&S also launched a social media platform to promote the book.
Careless People
Sarah Wynn-Williams
Macmillan
How to launch a book that you cannot talk about was the challenge presented by this explosive insider account of whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams' time at Facebook (now Meta). Such was the threat of a pre-publication injunction, Careless People was only announced six days before release and, when a legal order silenced the author on the eve of publication, Macmillan pivoted to an authorless campaign that transformed an attempt at suppression into a global news event.
Entitled
Andrew Lownie
William Collins
Andrew Lownie’s meticulously researched joint biography of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson was launched with a serialisation in the Daily Mail. The explosive revelations inside the book triggered huge media interest and Entitled topped the charts within days. William Collins’ publicity team managed the constant demand for interviews, as the book continued to dominate the news agenda, establishing Lownie firmly as a go-to commentator not only on his bestselling book but on all royal stories.
Last Rites
Ozzy Osbourne
Sphere
The rock legend first told his life story in 2009’s I Am Ozzy; Last Rites was his chance to say thank you and goodbye to his fans. Osbourne’s final gig with Black Sabbath, with 300,000 heavy metal fans travelling to Birmingham, offered the perfect start to the pre-order marketing campaign with a digital advertising van and geotargeted mobile ads. Published posthumously, Last Rites spent 10 weeks in the bestseller chart and was the biggest music memoir of 2025.
Mother Mary Comes to Me
Arundhati Roy
Hamish Hamilton
The encouragement of her long-time editor prompted the Booker Prize-winning novelist to write her first raw and intimate memoir following the death of her mother. The global launch required close collaboration with teams from PRH India and Scribner in the US. Foyles was a key retailer, with POS including foiled bookmarks, exclusive festive baubles and matching postcards, plus a striking mural wall in the flagship branch on Tottenham Court Road.
Nobody’s Girl
Virginia Roberts Giuffre,
co-written by Amy Wallace
Doubleday
Publishing the devastating memoir by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the woman whose decision to speak out helped send Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to prison, required great sensitivity. With UK publication confirmed just six weeks before the global release, Nobody’s Girl was serialised in the Guardian. Unexpected challenges included multiple leaks and renewed news events linked to the former Prince Andrew, but the team kept Giuffre’s story, and not the news cycle, at the centre of coverage.
