Bloom

As a free-spirited, independent woman, Bronnie Ware was used to donning a variety of hats: singer, songwriter, author, speaker, traveller, adventurer. And, as her soul would have it, in her mid-forties she felt the urge to add one more: mother.

Ware, author of The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, had learned many lessons as a palliative care giver, and she began to absorb even more from the opposite end of the spectrum as a giver of life. When she unexpectedly moved back to her home town, she anticipated feelings of warmth and family, and soon began to settle into a happy norm. Only months into motherhood, however, Ware's body had a different idea when a chronically painful auto-immune disease took hold.

In this inspiring memoir, Ware reminds us that whether life's lessons arrive through disease, trauma or any other unexpected upheaval, life really does love us. By finding the courage to confront her upper limits, surrender to life's blessings and have gratitude every step of the way, Ware discovered how to bloom in a field of formidable challenges.