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The Book of Revelations
  • Published: 2 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529977684
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: Audio Download

The Book of Revelations

Women and Their Secrets From the 1950s to the Present Day

  • Juliet Nicolson
Formats & editions
EBook
2 Oct 2025
Audiobook
2 Oct 2025
Hardback
2 Nov 2025
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Bestselling social historian Juliet Nicolson looks at three generation of women, and what the changing nature of the secrets they have chosen and been forced to keep tells us about our world -- and what makes us tick

'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
  • Published: 2 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529977684
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
Categories:

Praise for The Book of Revelations

A triumph – shocking, brave, compellingly readable and of clear importance

PHILIP NORMAN

With incredible intimacy and deep compassion, Juliet Nicolson has woven together the stories that make our lives, but which so often remain hidden... This is a dazzling and surprising book, and I was changed by the experience of reading it

CLOVER STROUD

I read this straight through with the excitement of reading a detective story... I cannot recommend it too highly

ANTONIA FRASER, author of Marie Antoinette: The Journey

A gripping exploration of the secrets women keep. Raw, revealing and deeply human, The Book of Revelations is a bold ode to womanhood, love, and freedom

MIREILLE HARPER, author of Timelines from Black History

I loved this book. The combination of personal, social and historical is fascinating, and beautifully done. The range and quality of its psychological insights make it truly valuable

JULIA SAMUEL, author of Every Family Has a Story

Bold, brave and brilliant

JUSTINE PICARDIE, author of Miss Dior

A book about the stories we don’t tell, written with such truth-telling compulsion and compassionate honesty... a true act of bravery and sisterhood

ELIZABETH DAY

An amazing achievement - teeming with life, vivid history rolling alongside personal stories.... A precious testament to sisterhood and trust

HANNAH DAWSON, author of The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing

Juliet Nicolson is a hugely gifted social historian, one who never fails to startle a gripped reader into a new understanding

MIRANDA SEYMOUR, author of I Used to Live Here Once

A time-travelling investigation... Juliet Nicolson’s book has a depth charge and a sense of the now that is so timely and important

JEANETTE WINTERSON

Kept me up until 3 in the morning. Absolutely topical. Unputdownable. An amazing book

ANNABEL GOLDSMITH

I gobbled this book up. It's a gem, packed with nuggets I wanted to share. Nicolson is brilliant at contextualising personal stories in the bigger historical picture. All the women we meet are heroines, and their honesty is inspiring

HELENA BONHAM-CARTER

Utterly engrossing and timely... told with immense empathy, intelligence and compassion... an important work of social history and as gripping as a beach read. I cannot recommend it highly enough

INDIA KNIGHT, Sunday Times