The Book of Revelations: Women and Their Secrets
Oct 2025 · Random House
Ebook
368
Pages
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Eligible
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infoThis book will become available on October 2, 2025. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
'I was riveted by every single page' ELIZABETH DAY
'A dazzling and surprising book' CLOVER STROUD
'I loved this book' JULIA SAMUEL
How have secrets changed over the generations, and what does that tell us about ourselves and our world? In her intimate new book, bestselling social historian Juliet Nicolson uncovers one of the most enigmatic yet revealing aspects of human behaviour.
According to a leading American psychotherapist most of us are keeping thirteen secrets at any one time. Secrets can thrill, but they are just as likely to torment; and the deepest ones echo far down the generations.
The secrets we keep inside reflect the conventions and taboos of the world outside. As women traditionally sit at the heart of family life, their secrets can open a unique window onto wider society. The Book of Revelations unlocks a period of significant transformation for women, from the restrictions just after the Second World War, through the emancipation of the 1960s and 1970s, to the opportunities and dangers women meet online today.
As we travel through time, we encounter deeply moving first-person stories, rich social history and Juliet’s own experiences of secrecy. We witness long-buried family secrets shared at last, their keepers set free. Finally, we are forced to wonder whether, after a steady upwards curve of liberation, our daughters and granddaughters are once again in danger of being curtailed by censure, caution and fear. Or will they learn from the secrets of the past, to find a more secure footing for the future?
‘An amazing achievement – teeming with life, vivid history rolling alongside personal stories. It has a thrilling energy, and the great release and relief of telling the truth and being heard. A precious testament to sisterhood and trust’ Hannah Dawson, editor of The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing
'A dazzling and surprising book' CLOVER STROUD
'I loved this book' JULIA SAMUEL
How have secrets changed over the generations, and what does that tell us about ourselves and our world? In her intimate new book, bestselling social historian Juliet Nicolson uncovers one of the most enigmatic yet revealing aspects of human behaviour.
According to a leading American psychotherapist most of us are keeping thirteen secrets at any one time. Secrets can thrill, but they are just as likely to torment; and the deepest ones echo far down the generations.
The secrets we keep inside reflect the conventions and taboos of the world outside. As women traditionally sit at the heart of family life, their secrets can open a unique window onto wider society. The Book of Revelations unlocks a period of significant transformation for women, from the restrictions just after the Second World War, through the emancipation of the 1960s and 1970s, to the opportunities and dangers women meet online today.
As we travel through time, we encounter deeply moving first-person stories, rich social history and Juliet’s own experiences of secrecy. We witness long-buried family secrets shared at last, their keepers set free. Finally, we are forced to wonder whether, after a steady upwards curve of liberation, our daughters and granddaughters are once again in danger of being curtailed by censure, caution and fear. Or will they learn from the secrets of the past, to find a more secure footing for the future?
‘An amazing achievement – teeming with life, vivid history rolling alongside personal stories. It has a thrilling energy, and the great release and relief of telling the truth and being heard. A precious testament to sisterhood and trust’ Hannah Dawson, editor of The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing
About the author
Juliet Nicolson is the bestselling author of three works of social history, The Great Silence: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great War; The Perfect Summer: Dancing into Shadow in 1911; and Frostquake: The frozen winter of 1962 and how Britain emerged a different country; as well as a family memoir, A House Full of Daughters. She is a mother and a grandmother and lives with her husband in East Sussex.
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