JD Vance announces Hillbilly Elegy sequel book in $8 million deal | Books | Entertainment

JD Vance went from relative obscurity when his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, became a bestseller.

The book covered growing up in the Appalachian Mountains with family drug addiction, socioeconomic problems and explained Donald Trump’s rise in popularity with white, working-class voters.

Adapted into a 2020 Ron Howard Netflix movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close as his mother and grandmother, the latter was simultaneously Oscar-nominated and Razzie-nominated for her role.

A former Never-Trumper at the time of writing, Vance later changed his mind about the 45th president and became an Ohio Senator in 2022.

It wasn’t long before he openly endorsed Trump and was selected to be his VP running mate in the 2024 election to become the 47th president.

All the way back in 2017, a year after Hillbilly Elegy’s publication, Vance signed an $8 million deal for a sequel. And now the US Vice President and 2028 Republican presidential candidate hopeful has announced the title, synopsis and release date via his social media. The book is called Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, and follows his journey from an evangelical Baptist upbringing, through a spout of atheism, to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Vance wrote on his Instagram: “I’ve been writing this book for a long time, and I’m honoured to finally be able to share the full story with you all. Communion is about my personal journey and how I found my way back to faith.”

Perhaps this book will get a big-screen adaptation, too. If so, we’d guess over at Angel Studios, given it’s a faith-based story.

The book’s official synopsis reads: “From the bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy—an intimate account of why Vice President JD Vance strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith. Communion is a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader. Picking up in some ways where Hillbilly Elegy left off, Communion recounts how Vance’s pursuit of material privileges ultimately led him into a secular wilderness. Communion reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.”

Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith by JD Vance is published on June 16, 2026.