Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Narrative 2025
Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Narrative Winner and Shortlist
Non-Fiction: Narrative will be a hard-fought category this year. The judges must decide between two powerful life stories – one from a leading athlete whose diagnosis has influenced NHS policy and the other from a brave Russian patriot, published posthumously – a groundbreaking book about sexual desire, a nature-writing debut, a political memoir and a warm confessional from a much-loved comedian.
Winner
Patriot
Alexei Navalny, translated by Arch Tait & Stephen Dalziel
The Bodley Head
Alexei Navalny’s posthumously published memoir was a standout in this category. Not only were our judges “moved” and “inspired” by this “tremendous” read, but they took inspiration from Navalny’s character and his dedication to justice.
“His humanity shone through and, more than anything, his commitment to the cause,” said one judge. One judge said they were “absolutely blown away” by Patriot, both a memoir and a timely examination of the Russian political landscape. “A modern tragedy,” said another.
Our panel were equally in awe of the Bodley Head’s “exceptional” campaign and its attentive, sensitive editorial work. “Publishing this book was a huge feat,” acknowledged one judge. The Bodley Head announced the memoir two months after Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony and thereafter worked closely with his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, on events and interviews, ensuring her safety at every stage. Patriot is “bringing truth into the world”, our judges agreed.
The Shortlist
All That Matters
Sir Chris Hoy
Hodder & Stoughton
When Hodder acquired All That Matters, no one, not even the author’s friends or children, knew that his diagnosis of prostate cancer was terminal. To ensure control over the story, a package of news, book announcement, interview and serial was brokered with the Sunday Times. All That Matters went straight to number one for two weeks and stayed in the top 10 over Christmas. It finished 2024 as the bestselling sports book of the year and led to a radical review of NHS prostate testing policy.
I Haven't Been Entirely Honest with You
Miranda Hart
Penguin Michael Joseph
The comedian, actress and writer achieved success with her 2012 memoir, Is It Just Me?. I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You is written as a manual for living, full of hard-won wisdom following a decade of illness. Author care was central to the publicity campaign, which launched with an exclusive interview on The One Show’s sofa. The author’s four million strong fanbase across all social channels was targeted to secure pre-orders, and unmissable point of sale for Waterstones and indies included life-sized standees of the woman herself.
Patriot
Alexei Navalny, trans. Arch Tait & Stephen Dalziel
The Bodley Head
The Bodley Head announced the publication of Alexei Navalny’s life story less than two months after his death in a brutal Arctic penal colony. The support of Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei’s widow, was crucial in the sensitive campaign for Patriot. Video content featuring Yulia, and a letter from her for booksellers, gave a sense of the human story behind the book’s political message. Publication week was marked with a digital screen advertising van that stopped at landmarks of power in central London, and a sell-out Royal Festival Hall interview hosted by Emily Maitlis.
Raising Hare
Chloe Dalton, illus. Denise Nestor
Canongate
The standout nature-writing debut of 2024 told of a chance encounter with a leveret in the English countryside, which changed the author’s life. The wildlife memoir, with bespoke illustrations from Denise Nestor for the cover and the chapter heads, was a hit for independent bookshops, who supported the exclusive indie edition with sprayed edges with point of sale including postcard packs, wrapping paper, posters, window clings and bunting. A 13-stop book tour for Raising Hare took the author to festivals and bookshops across the country and it was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.
Unleashed
Boris Johnson
William Collins
William Collins centred former prime minister Boris Johnson’s voice in the campaign to promote his political memoir, which launched with a four-part serial in the Daily Mail, followed by a series of broadcast interviews, with an evening special on ITV, GB News and Sky News. An appearance on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast engaged a younger demographic beyond core Conservative voters, and events at Cheltenham and Manchester saw Unleashed remain in the top 10 from publication until the end of 2024.
Want
Gillian Anderson & anonymous
Bloomsbury Publishing
More than 100 Bloomsbury staffers worked to bring Want, a collection of anonymous sexual fantasies from women around the world, to market. A secure online portal was created, to preserve the anonymity of the contributors, and almost a million words were edited, selected and shaped into the book. The creative marketing campaign included a Want book installation, an intimate, interactive space to preview the book, and the publicity campaign, which maximised Anderson’s limited time, made sexual fantasies part of the wider cultural conversion. Want spent 12 weeks on the bestseller lists, selling well over 100,000 copies.
