Seven Dials beat By Your Side: My Life Loving Barbara Windsor by Scott Mitchell, husband of the East´nders star and national icon for over 27 years.
Vicky Eribo, publisher, has acquired worldwide rights to the “intimate, honest and incredibly personal account of a life spent loving Barbara” by Eugenie Furniss at age 42, for publication on October 13, 2022.
Mitchell, a former actor and theater agent, said: “I’m honored to have the chance to tell our story. It’s a very human story of two people who loved, adored and respected each other. We We were best friends and, as corny as that sounds, true kindred spirits. On paper, it should never have worked out, but our love and friendship took on whatever came our way. And we had a incredible journey, finally making each other the people we were meant to be.
“To others, Barbara was an icon, a national treasure with a chuckle and a colorful past. To me, Bar was my wife, the woman who made up the other half of me. most precious of my life, I realize how blessed I have been to have shared my heart and my time with the most extraordinary and unique woman.
“This book is who we were together. It’s honest and it’s what Barbara would have expected of me and always told me to do when the time came.
Windsor’s half-century career spanned stage and screen, where she spent more than 20 years in EastEnders’ Albert Square playing Peggy Mitchell. She died in December 2020 at the age of 83. In 2021 Mitchell was named an Ambassador for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Weaving together an old-fashioned romance, a sparkling showbiz life and the true cost of dementia, says the editor By your side promises to be a “treasure” for anyone who grew up watching and loving Dame Barbara Windsor.
Eribo said: “It’s all too common to say someone is an inspiration or a national treasure, but in the case of Barbara Windsor there are no more appropriate words. She is and always will be an absolute icon for British audiences and I feel truly honored to be working with Scott on this extraordinary celebration of their 27 years together. As dementia is set to become the biggest health and care challenge facing the UK, Barbara and Scott’s story is also hugely important to share and we will be supporting it with a huge marketing campaign and public relations this fall.”