Author Julian Barnes Secretly Remarries Ahead of His 80th Birthday amid Rare and Incurable Blood Cancer Diagnosis
- - Author Julian Barnes Secretly Remarries Ahead of His 80th Birthday amid Rare and Incurable Blood Cancer Diagnosis
Toria SheffieldJanuary 26, 2026 at 5:00 AM
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Julian Barnes with current wife Rachel Cugnoni -
British author Julian Barnes revealed he quietly remarried in August ahead of his 80th birthday
His first wife, literary agent Pat Kavanagh, died of an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2008, and his latest novel is an exploration on the grieving process surrounding her death
Barnes also shared he is currently living with a rare form of blood cancer
Famed British author Julian Barnes revealed he married in secret ahead of his 80th birthday — and amid an ongoing journey with cancer.
The novelist married publisher Rachel Cugnoni in a small ceremony in August 2025 attended by only eight people, per The Telegraph. Barnes was formerly married to literary agent Pat Kavanagh, who died of an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2008.
Barnes and Cugnoni — who have known one another for 30 years and have been together for about eight — announced the news of their nuptials during a recent birthday celebration for Barnes’ 80th birthday, which was on Jan. 19, per the outlet. The party was attended by about 100 people.
Barnes said that while addressing their party guests, he recalled a moment in 2011 when he gave a speech during a book event. He said that at the time, Cugnoni told him the speech was so good that she wanted him to give a speech at her wedding some day.
“Well, I suppose this is it,” Barnes told the crowd, adding that the news “caught everyone completely off-guard.”
“And then, when they realized what I meant, they all stood up and applauded. It was really moving," he said.
Barnes went on to say that he never expected to find love again after the death of his first wife, who died when he was 62.
“I thought, that’s a really crappy age to get widowed," he recalled thinking at the time. "I can’t really start again. And yet you’re not too old — but you will be soon. It was a long time before I thought I might have another relationship.”
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Julian Barnes in 1986
The Booker Prize-winning author opened up about his recent eventful few months during an appearance on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, which aired on Jan. 15.
“It’s been a very strange five months up to now, because in August I got married,” he explained, adding, “In December I had a serious back operation … and then I get my 80th birthday, and then I get my [latest] book publication. I can’t remember a period of months when there’s been so much going on.”
Barnes additionally shared that all of this occurred amid his ongoing cancer diagnosis, adding that he was initially diagnosed nearly six years ago.
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“It came as a great shock,” he said while recalling the moment he learned he had cancer. “It’s a form of blood cancer which is quite rare … there are about 500 cases diagnosed a year in Britain.”
He added that he was diagnosed following a routine blood test.
“It’s not curable and there’s no research into this form of cancer, so I’m stuck with taking chemo [pills] every day for the rest of my life,” he said, noting that the disease “is essentially stable” and that his doctors say “it probably won’t reduce my life expectancy.”
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The Sense of an Ending author also spoke about the experience of moving forward after losing his first wife nearly 20 years ago, noting that she died about one month after they learned she had brain cancer.
“She had a catastrophic diagnosis and was dead in 37 days. It was like being taken downhill in an avalanche and every day something got worse,” he recalled.
“It was by a long way the most appalling thing that’s happened to me in my life … it took me years to get over it,” he added.
His latest novel — which he also says will be his last — titled Departure(s), is in large part an exploration of his experience with losing Kavanagh and the grieving process surrounding it.
And while the new novel is largely about his love for his first wife, he says his current wife has been nothing but supportive of his creative process.
“She [Cugnoni] once said to me when we’d been together for two or three years, she said, ‘I love the way you love Pat.’ And Pat had been dead for 13 years or something,” he recalled.
“She’s remarkably open and realistic. [The book] doesn’t mean I love her any less. I just think it’s right to remember and write about the dead,” he added.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
