Aout growing up between Sudanese and Englsh cultures

Ola Labib is to publish her memoirs about growing up between two cultures.

How Not to Lead a Double Life will be released by Robinson on July 9, the comic revealed during an appearance on Celebration Kitchen – a special edition of the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen celebrating the end of Ramadan – yesterday.

Labib – the first Sudanese woman to perform stand-up at The O2 arena – grew up as the only child of Sudanese parents in what she describes as a very English seaside town, a background that left her feeling she never quite fitted in anywhere. 

At home, she was expected to conform to her family’s values and ambitions. Outside, she tried to pass as British enough to belong at school, university and at work.

’Growing up as the only Sudanese hijabi Muslim in a very English seaside town made me feel like I was caught between two worlds,’ she says. ’The truth is, I never quite knew how to do both and when I did try, it would sometimes end badly.’

’My parents believed they were protecting me by shielding me from parts of "English culture" and in many ways they were both right and wrong,'  she adds.

'I was raised on the immigrant dream: get a good education, build a respectable career, and make your family proud. I did exactly that, becoming a successful, high-achieving pharmacist. But deep down I felt that something huge was missing. I did exactly that, becoming a successful, high-achieving pharmacist. But deep down I felt that something huge was missing.’

What followed was a period of private rebellion and gradual self-discovery. She began performing stand-up comedy in secret and fell in love with a rapper.

The memoir also explores what it means to be a middle child raised alongside two brothers who were held to different expectations – and the particular pressures that come with being the daughter of immigrant parents who feel they have sacrificed everything for their children’s futures.

‘This book is a story about self-discovery: about finding your purpose, learning to live for yourself even when it risks your parents’ disapproval, and still longing for their support,' she said. 'Even when love and tradition clash, there is still room for laughter, growth and belonging Even when love and tradition clash, there is still room for laughter, growth and belonging.'

How Not to Lead a Double Life: Confessions of an Unapologetic Outcast by Ola Labib  is available to order from Amazon priced £22 in hardback – or from uk.bookshop.org, below, which supports independent bookstores.  

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Published: 16 Mar 2026