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Vigilauntie
- Author
- Meera Syal
- Narrator
- Meera Syal
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 3 September 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 55 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Memoirs, Comedy and stand-up, Television
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What to expect
'A sharp, unbeatable, timeless wit' Jameela Jamil
'Hilarious, heartbreaking and inspiring' Sathnam Sanghera
'Dashed with magic' Richard E. Grant
Meera Syal is one of Britain's best loved comedy legends. Now, for the first time, she tells her story.
Meera recounts those chance remarks that have changed the course of her life - everything from 'don't sit with your legs apart!' (the despairing cry of Meera's aunties) to 'an Asian comedy show? Are Asians funny?' (the depressing response to the idea that would become Goodness Gracious Me).
With her trademark warmth and humour, she shares stories from growing up as the only brown girl in her beloved Midlands town, to her grandfather's attempts to arrange her marriage; from to her working life as an actress and writer, to her journey to motherhood and the changing attitudes towards women she has experienced over her career.
Meera's story is also the story of a changing Britain - revealing lives deeply affected by the partition of India in 1947 and the reverberations of history into the present.
Vigilauntie is a memoir with heart: touching, compelling and very, very funny.
'Tender, riveting, beautiful and deeply vulnerable' Nikita Gill
'An absolute joy' Jo Brand
'Read it. Love it. Cry and laugh' Anita Anand
Critics Review
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I can't remember the last memoir I enjoyed so much. Hilarious, heartbreaking and inspiring, it is a fearless celebration of finding your voice, breaking the rules, and being liberated to sit, unapologetically, with your legs apart
SATHNAM SANGHERA
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What a funny, fearless and fascinating story Meera has to tell. I wish I'd been surrounded by a posse of hilarious aunties. This memoir is shot through with wit, intriguing stories and personal history, an absolute joy to read
JO BRAND
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Like a cup of Kashmiri chai, Meera's story is steeped in tradition, resilience, dashed with magic and makes you feel warm all over
RICHARD E GRANT
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Meera is the reason I was ever able to imagine myself in comedy. A sharp, unbeatable, timeless wit
JAMEELA JAMIL
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Meera Syal has always known that comedy is the sharpest tool in the drawer. Vigilauntie is the book she was born to write - funny, fierce, and full of the stories that made her. It earns its place alongside Anita and Me as an essential chapter in her extraordinary life's work. Read it. Love it. Cry and laugh
ANITA ANAND
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Memoir, history lesson, and delight. Queen of comedy, queen of memoirs - is there nothing Meera Syal can't do?
CAITLIN MORAN
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An honest witty and compelling memoir from one of the UK's most honest, witty and compelling women
EMMA FREUD
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Meera Syal, one of our most celebrated actors, is also one of our most gifted story tellers. This book is a love letter to those Aunties that forged her . . . In Vigilauntie she has taken the memoir form and made it all her own; poignant, puckish and devastatingly funny, this is refreshing as it is nourishing to read
MONA ARSHI
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I adore this book. My heart feels full . . . Vigilauntie is a thing of beauty that I will keep turning over in my mind for quite some time to come. An erudite tumble of vivid, life affirming memory that weaves its magic around the soul
ABI MORGAN
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Once in a while a book comes along that so powerfully finds its way to your very bones that you know it will stay with you forever. Dame Meera Syal's Vigilauntie is that rare book. It is everything you'd hope for in a memoir and then some - tender, funny, riveting, beautiful and deeply vulnerable, all measured with such generosity that you feel held as a reader all the way through a story both hilarious and heartbreaking at once . . . I wish I could make Vigilauntie required reading for everyone. Sumptuous and brilliant, this book is my biggest recommendation this year!
NIKITA GILL
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By sharing her heart-warming and hilarious story Meera has made a generation of us feel like our stories matter and that we exist. She has a brilliant way of making her story feel universal. She's an evil genius who can make you cry whilst wetting your pants with laughter. Anyone who's felt like an outsider, a solo dancer, a misfit and a character part: as long as there is music and Meera, we can face down the aunties and anyone else who comes along
ANITA RANI
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Details
- Author
- Meera Syal
- Narrator
- Meera Syal
- Duration
- 8 hours 55 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781399619486
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Memoirs, Comedy and stand-up, Television
Synopsis
'A delight' Caitlin Moran'A sharp, unbeatable, timeless wit' Jameela Jamil'Hilarious, heartbreaking and inspiring' Sathnam Sanghera 'Dashed with magic' Richard E. Grant Meera Syal is one of Britain's best loved comedy legends. Now, for the first time, she tells her story.Meera recounts those chance remarks that have changed the course of her life - everything from 'don't sit with your legs apart!' (the despairing cry of Meera's aunties) to 'an Asian comedy show? Are Asians funny?' (the depressing response to the idea that would become Goodness Gracious Me).With her trademark warmth and humour, she shares stories from growing up as the only brown girl in her beloved Midlands town, to her grandfather's attempts to arrange her marriage; from to her working life as an actress and writer, to her journey to motherhood and the changing attitudes towards women she has experienced over her career.Meera's story is also the story of a changing Britain - revealing lives deeply affected by the partition of India in 1947 and the reverberations of history into the present. Vigilauntie is a memoir with heart: touching, compelling and very, very funny. 'Tender, riveting, beautiful and deeply vulnerable' Nikita Gill 'An absolute joy' Jo Brand'Read it. Love it. Cry and laugh' Anita Anand
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