The former first lady Jill Biden is publishing a memoir about her experiences in the White House.
The memoir, titled “View from the East Wing,” is due out in early June from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
In her book, Biden will reflect on her role as first lady during a tumultuous period of American history and address the multiple crises that her husband, President Joseph R. Biden, had to navigate while in office, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
For the first time, she will give her own account of her husband’s fraught re-election campaign and her views on his stunning decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris amid questions about his age and fitness for office. Biden will also reflect on her advocacy work in areas like women’s health, education and cancer prevention.
“I’ve had an incredible life but have the same challenges so many women face — how to balance work, family, my place in the community, my obligations to myself,” Biden said in a statement released by her publisher.
Biden’s account of her years in the White House is likely to hit bookstores before her husband’s does. Last summer, news broke that the former president is also working on memoir, which Hachette Books acquired for a reported $10 million. No publication date has been announced.
Biden, who continued teaching English as a community college professor while serving as first lady, has published several books, including children’s books and a 2019 memoir, “Where the Light Enters,” about her blended family with Joe Biden and the challenges of juggling her responsibilities as a mother, teacher and political spouse.
“View from the East Wing” will join a literary tradition of first lady memoirs, many of which became major best sellers. Michelle Obama’s 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” was a blockbuster that sold millions of copies globally.
Hillary Clinton published multiple best-selling memoirs, and Laura Bush’s 2010 memoir, “Spoken from the Heart,” also had strong sales.
Biden’s memoir was acquired by Aimee Bell, the editorial director of Gallery Books, who bought world rights. Gallery did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Gallery also published a 2021 memoir by Biden’s stepson, Hunter Biden, which dealt with his drug and alcohol addiction and path to sobriety and the losses his family has suffered.
Jennifer Bergstrom, the publisher of Gallery Books, said “View from the East Wing” offers an intimate look at Biden’s life as first lady. “She brings you behind the scenes, from Camp David to Air Force One, from grading papers in the Rose Garden to witnessing the abrupt end of her husband’s bid for re-election,” Bergstrom said.
“View from the East Wing” will arrive in a time when publishers have been struggling to sell serious nonfiction. But there are signs that readers are still eager for revealing, behind-the-scenes White House accounts. Harris’s campaign memoir, “107 Days,” became an instant best seller for Simon & Schuster last year, and sold more than 600,000 copies in its first three months on sale.
Alexandra Alter writes about books, publishing and the literary world for The Times.
The post Jill Biden Will Publish a Memoir in June appeared first on New York Times.
