Getting a glimpse into someone's most private thoughts and feelings is such a privilege and that's why memoir hits so differently to fiction. The best pull you in, open your eyes and show you other ways of living. They also offer comfort and companionship, a mirror held up to our own lives.
As a huge fan of memoir, these are six books I devoured almost in one gulp.
Strangers by Belle Burden
This intimate memoir tells the story of how Burden discovered (via a text), in the early days of the pandemic, that her husband was having an affair. When she confronts him about it, he pleads that it didn’t mean anything but the next day, he walks out, putting an end to their marriage of nearly 21 years. Burden's writing is beautiful but it's her brutal honesty here that really draws you in; she refuses to put all the blame on her ex, despite his abhorent behaviour, and doesn't make excuses for her own faults.
Ebury Press Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
Awake by Jen Hatmaker
This powerful memoir of self-discovery begins as Hatmaker wakes in bed one night to hear her husband of 26 years voice-noteing his girlfriend. Life as she knows it is over but as she finds in this empowering, honest memoir about rebuilding your life, but better.
Leaving Home by Mark Haddon
The bestselling author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time looks back on his dysfunctional childhood and chronicles his flight from a family home that never felt right into a world of creativity and art.
Chatto & Windus Leaving Home by Mark Haddon
Famesick by Lena Dunham
This raw and honest memoir from the Girls creator and star shot straight to the top of the best-seller charts when it was released a few months ago. In it she opens up about her experiences of addiction and meditates whether fulfilling her ambitions has been worth the pain it brought with it.
Ghost Stories by Suri Husvedt
This heart-breaking memoir shares how novelist Husvedt navigated her husband Paul Auster's terminal cancer diagnosis and death in 2024. It's a powerful and tribute to their long union and love.
Death Of An Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry
Sarah Perry’s tender and true account of the last days of her father-inlaw, David, is one of those books it feels like everyone should read. This is Perry’s first full-length work of non-fiction – she’s better known as the author of novels including The Essex Serpent and Melmoth – but as in her fiction, the writing here is luminous and thoughtful. Although Death Of An Ordinary Man is, without doubt, a sad book, it’s also one full of hope and humanity. For many who have experienced similar emotions, it will prove a comfort. It’s also a timely reminder to appreciate and hold close those we love dearest.
Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry
The Honesty Box by Lucy Brazier
Mixing memoir with beautiful writing about the Dorset countryside around her, Brazier chronicles how her husband's ADHD diagnosis had a profound effect on her marriage.
Bloomsbury The Honesty Box by Lucy Brazier
The Parallel Path by Jenn Ashworth
I’m currently halfway across the Lake District (in my head, at least) in the company of Jenn Ashworth, whose brilliant travelogue has been keeping me company when I can’t sleep. It’s full of beautiful nature-writing and some thought-provoking insights on why midlife women might do well to run away from home (at least for a bit!).
Went To London, Took The Dog by Nina Stibbe
I’ve been a fan of Stibbe's writing ever since her debut, Love, Nina. This book is a diary of her 60th year, in which she leaves Cornwall to move back to London (with her dog). It’s funny, but with a relatable edge of vulnerability.
The Giant On The Skyline by Clover Stroud
I will read anything Stroud writes, and this new memoir is as raw, open and thoughtful as her previous books. Beginning as her family prepares to leave the Oxfordshire countryside to start a new life in Washington DC, she reflects on the meaning of home and how certain places embed themselves into our bones.
Penguin The Giant on the Skyline by Clover Stroud
