So… Life’s not going to plan. That’s a statement, not a question.

What stayed with me most is that your book is not simply about difficult times.

It is written from inside them.

You were living through circumstances that were painful and uncertain when you first put those thoughts onto paper.Years later, those words were sitting beneath a metal tray in an old filing cabinet, waiting to be rediscovered.And when you found them again, you were no longer the same person who had written them.

That is an extraordinary part of the story.

You can now look back at those words with the knowledge that the woman who once struggled to see a way forward eventually found her way through.

You are not simply telling someone that difficult seasons can end.You have lived long enough to know that they can.

I was also struck by how specifically the book speaks to mothers and families dealing with pressure, particularly the reality of trying to stretch limited money and time while still wanting to give your children what they need.The book also moves into subjects such as parenthood, grief, loneliness, counselling, living in the past, health, identity, happiness and the question of who we ultimately want to become.

That gives your work a much wider emotional reach than a conventional self-help title.