Sometimes, the most incredible stories come not from the imagination of a novelist but the very real and often paradigm-shifting moments that define a lifetime. Consider memoirs such as The Light We Carry Michelle Obama , or Prince Harry 's salacious tell-all Spare
But much as we all love a behind-the-scenes look at celebrities and public figures, inspiring and jaw-dropping true stories can also come from much more humble circumstances: a young Black man falsely accused of murder; a Holocaust survivor who passed through no fewer than five Nazi concentration camps; a daughter piecing together the mystery of her mother's disappearance; a couple turning to the wilderness as they face financial ruin; and women from Albania to Arkansas revisiting hard truths about their childhoods. Find them all – and more – rounded up here.
Tara Westover was nine years old before she had an official birth certificate, 22 before she had her first vaccinations, and 17 before she learned about the Holocaust. Such was the life carved out for Westover and her six siblings, whose off-grid childhoods were shaped by the paranoia and conspiracy theories of their fundamentalist Mormon parents. In this astonishing story of personal growth, Westover goes from barely-homeschooled to accomplished university student to Cambridge scholar. All the while, she grapples with complicated family ties and the trauma of an upbringing that will have you picking your jaw off the floor on multiple occasions.
Growing up in a working-class home in Ilford, East London, Gary Stevenson spent his childhood quite literally in the shadows of the City. Thanks to his brilliant maths skills, he soon found himself working there in June 2008, and went on to reach dizzying new heights as Citibank's most profitable trader. This book is Stevenson's astonishing, confessional account of his time spent on the trading floor – the larger-than-life characters, the hedonism, and the physical and mental toll of betting on rising inequality and a global economy in crisis.
Just days after turning 18, Kenny Imafidon faced at least 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was charged — and later acquitted — with the murder of a 17-year-old boy in south-east London, the whole experience revealing to him the inadequacies and inequalities of the justice system. His experience, all too disproportionately frequent for those from marginalised communities, inspired him to submit a report to Parliament — the first of several — about gangs and youth violence. More than just a memoir, That Peckham Boy couples a young man's personal story with a manifesto for change.
Birdwatching is more than just an idle hobby for environmentalist and diversity campaigner Mya-Rose Craig. It's been her motivation to travel the world in search of some of its most beautiful creatures, a lens through which to understand Planet Earth's delicate ecosystems and the forces that threaten them, and an opportunity to connect with her family outdoors amid her mother's struggles with bipolar disorder. Fall in love with the world of birding, or at least Craig's inextinguishable passion for it, in this beautifully told memoir that counts Margaret Atwood as a fan.
Tracy King grew up in a house full of laughter, intellectual curiosity, and creativity in a perfectly ordinary council estate on the outskirts of Birmingham. But her childhood was also one of financial insecurity, unimaginable loss, and a troubled family. Her father who struggled with alcoholism, had been killed in dubious circumstances, while her mother was living with agoraphobia.
When social services had moved her sister to a boarding school for troubled children, King was left to find her own way out at the age of 12.
Heartbreaking and hopeful in equal measure, Learning to Think. is a beautifully written memoir about vulnerability, fighting your demons, and getting out of a system that fails those trapped within it.
Two girls with the same upbringing in small-town Arkansas go on to lead vastly different lives; author Monica Potts leaves for university and becomes a journalist, while her childhood friend Darci falls into a brutal cycle of alcohol and drug dependency. Potts returns to her roots to write about the disproportionately low life expectancy of women in rural areas, in what turns out to be an emotional and eye-opening homecoming. Impeccably researched and powerfully told, The Forgotten Girls is at once a human story and a thoughtful study that captures the grim reality faced by millions of American women living in poverty today.
Many of us have a fear of loneliness, but writer Jade Angeles Fitton has embraced — and indeed built her life around — the art of being alone. After escaping an abusive relationship, Fitton finds herself living in a secluded barn with only vast expanses of Devonshire countryside for company. Weaving in stories of other hermitic souls past and present, Hermit charts Fitton's journey of self-actualisation and new beginnings, and in the midst of our hyper-connected world, offers up an alternative way of leading a fulfilling life.
