Christmas really does seem to come earlier each year (or is it just that we start saying that earlier each year?), but looking at back at Whitefox’s 2023, what’s more astonishing is just how many wonderful stories – and authors – we’ve been able to celebrate.

It’s been a fantastic year for getting great books talked about – in the press, across social media, and, for government advisor Anita Mendiratta, on the floor of the UNWTO General Assembly in Uzbekistan, where copies of The Call to Leadership, her inspirational book on navigating times of crisis, were distributed to 300 Heads of Delegation. Closer to home, Monique Charlesworth celebrated the launch of her extraordinary memoir Mother Country at Daunt Books in Marylebone. The book, which explores her mother’s life-long denial of her German and Jewish background, garnered rave reviews in the press and from readers and will be released in paperback in the new year.

In the autumn we raised toasts to two very different titles from exceptionally well-travelled authors. Former foreign correspondent and traditionally published novelist James MacManus published his eighth book with us, a love story set against the backdrop of a violent African insurgency. Described by one reviewer as ‘Frederick Forsyth meets Graham Greene with a touch of Romeo and Juliet’, Love in a Lost Land received glowing coverage in national newspapers, including two double-page spreads. Adventurer Neil Laughton took time out from his charity Penny Farthing cycle ride across war-torn Ukraine to host a packed launch party at the Royal Geographical Society, where hundreds of fellow explorers heard tales from his memoir Adventureholic, which comes with a foreword by Bear Grylls and has more recently been spotted in the prestigious window display at Waterstones Piccadilly.

Meanwhile Rupert Spira’s wonderful children’s book I Am Always I continues to exceed even our ambitious expectations, requiring a reprint before publication and selling out on Amazon on day one. The beautifully illustrated title marked a departure from Rupert’s previous bestselling books on meditation and happiness, but his devoted readership have taken it to their hearts; a video he posted about it on YouTube has racked up 17,000 views and counting.

So we’ll raise a toast to 2023! And look forward to all the new stories we’ll be able to cheer on in 2024.