Dame Deborah James’ posthumously published book How To Live When You Could Be Dead has shot straight to the top of the bestsellers list in the UK.
The book, which was released last Thursday, has already sold over 40,000 copies according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. It is the bestselling non-fiction debut of 2022, and £3 from each sale will be contributed by publisher Ebury to the BowelBabe Fund for Cancer Research UK.
Completed in the podcast host and former deputy headteacher’s final days, the book is an account of Dame Deborah James’ battle with bowel cancer. She died on June 28th at the age of 40, five years after first being diagnosed with the disease.
Known by her social media handle, Bowelbabe, Dame Deborah James, announced she was receiving end-of-life care in May and completed the book at her parents’ home. The final chapters were co-written withe her husband Sebastien Bowen.
BowelBabe
Over the last five years, Dame Deborah James’s BowelBabe Fund for Cancer Research UK has raised over 7.5m online. The book examines her positive mindset when faced with challenges and fulfils her dream to write a bestseller in the self-help market.
Sam Jackson, editorial director at Vermilion books, said: “I am so thrilled that How To Live When You Could Be Dead has become the number-one bestselling nonfiction book. It was Deborah’s dream to write a huge bestseller in the self-help space and it’s been such a privilege to help make this a reality.
“This is by far my proudest publishing moment and I am delighted that Deborah’s inspiring and transformative perspective will help so many people.”
See also: Mystery Death of Rising Star Charlbi Dean
After her diagnosis in 2016, Dame Deborah James recounted her treatments on Instagram and accumulated a million followers for her frank, and fearless accounts. With Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland she launched the podcast You, Me And The Big C in 2018. She was made a Dame shortly before her death, with Shortly before her death she was made a dame, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying: “If ever an honour was richly deserved, this is it.”
See also: Bowel Cancer Checks Reach Record High Thanks to Deborah James
