This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch

A hilarious, heartfelt memoir about one woman’s midlife obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the liberating power of reclaiming our passions as we age, whatever they may be.


Tabitha Carvan was a new mother, at home with two young children, when she fell for the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. You know the guy: strange name, alien face, made Sherlock so sexy that it became one of the most streamed shows in the world? The force of her fixation took everyone – especially Carvan herself – by surprise. But what she slowly realised was that her preoccupation was not with Benedict Cumberbatch at all. It was about finally feeling passionate about something, anything, at a point in her life when she had lost touch with her own identity. Turns out that a little bit of obsession can go a long way …


This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch explores what happens to women’s desires after we leave adolescence, and why the space in our lives for pure, unadulterated joy is squeezed ever smaller as we age. Carvan shine a light onto the hidden corners of fandom, from online communities to profound real-world connections. She asks: what happens if we simply decide to follow our interests – unabashedly, audaciously, shamelessly? After all, there’s true power in finding your ‘thing’ (even if that thing happens to be a Marvel superhero) and loving it like your life depends on it.