Hodder Faith acquires Andrew Atherstone's biography of first female Archbishop of Canterbury
Hodder Faith has acquired world all-language rights to Archbishop Sarah Mullally: A Biography by Andrew Atherstone – the first-to-market biography of the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Due to be published in the UK in the week of the archbishop’s enthronement in March 2026, it will also be published in the US via Hodder Faith.
Archbishop Sarah Mullally: A Biography is an "authoritative study" of the first woman to be Archbishop of Canterbury in Anglicanism’s 1,400-year history.
Hodder Faith said that Atherton’s biography charts Mullally’s "distinguished" career and "her rapid rise through the ranks of two of Britain’s most important institutions: the National Health Service and the Church of England".
In nursing, she began as a student trainee and rose to become the youngest ever Chief Nursing Officer in the Department of Health. In the Church, she began as a volunteer curate, rising through parish rectory and cathedral canonry to become the first female bishop of London, and now the first female archbishop.
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The publisher added: "Her appointment is a defining moment not only for the Church of England but for international Christianity. This biography examines the formation of Sarah Mullally’s character and priorities, and the shaping of her Christian faith.
"It offers insight into what drives the new archbishop forward and how she is likely to navigate the many debates raging across church and nation."
Author Atherstone is a professor of modern Anglicanism at the University of Oxford and tutorial fellow and Latimer research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. His biography of Justin Welby – Archbishop Justin Welby: Risk-taker and Reconciler (DLT, 2013) – was featured across the media, including the Daily Telegraph and BBC radio and television.
A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Atherstone has published widely on the history and biography of modern Anglicanism, for both academic and popular audiences, including Repackaging Christianity: Alpha and the Building of a Global Brand (Hodder & Stoughton, 2022).
Andy Lyon, publishing director at Hodder Faith, said: "The historic appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally happens at a critical juncture for the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and our country. Andrew’s book will offer readers unparalleled insight into Dame Sarah’s influences and her priorities as Archbishop."
