Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved

A savagely witty, warm and profound memoir by a young woman with a terminal illness,who contends with the terrifying fact that, even for her beloved husband and son, she is not the lynchpin of existence and life will go on.

• Author’s New York Times essay, ‘Death, the Prosperity Gospel and Me’ (http://nyti.ms/2k87bUM) was chosen by the newspaper as one of their top 20 articles of 2016, and was read by millions • Paul Kalanithi's award-winning When Breath Becomes Air has sold over 175,000 copies in the UK alone. • Deeply touching yet revitalizing, and displaying a masterly use of irony, the book will also draw in readers of volumes like Tom Lubbock's 'Until Further Notice, I Am Alive', Bryony Gordon's 'Mad Girl', Matt Haig's 'Reasons to Stay Alive', and Ruby Wax's 'Frazzled' • The author’s voice and strength of character will appeal to those who appreciate writers such as Anne Lamott, Barbara Brown Taylor, Rowan Williams and Richard Rohr • A fascinating read for those concerned with the prevalence of the Prosperity Gospel • Coverage likely from online media such as Christian Today and Ship of Fools

·  Kate Bowler's memoir is a meditation on sense-making when there's no sense to be made, on letting go when we can't hold on, and on being unafraid even when we're terrified. And it happens to be hilarious. Above all, though, this is a love letter to life, and it's gorgeous. - Lucy Kalanithi, MD, FACP, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine

·  “I don’t remember why I opened Everything Happens for a Reason, but once I did, I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping—she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. Her spirit and perspective are so beautiful that halfway through- I closed the book, turned to my wife and said: ‘I have to call someone to find out how this ends. I need to know before I keep reading if she’s okay.’ I don’t think Kate wrote Everything Happens for a Reason to save anybody: she was just telling the truth about her life. Regardless, I left Kate’s story feeling more present, grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for? Everything Happens for A Reason is art in its highest form—and Kate Bowler is a true artist—with the pen, and with her life.” - Glennon Doyle, author of the #1 NYT Bestseller Love Warrior and president of Together Rising

·  This is a beautifully-written, intelligent, soulful book. Kate’s story makes room for anger, for
love, for faith and despair, for prayer and silence . . . necessary reading for all of us who
long to walk faithfully and honestly through the darkest and most desolate of seasons. - Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author of Present Over Perfect and Bread

·  Kate Bowler has stage 4 cancer and she faces it with courage and questions. Does
everything happen for a reason? Is there a master plan? Kate comes to the simplest
conclusion of all: “Life is beautiful. Life is hard.” Accepting these two truths side-by-side can
change the way we live . . . A book for all of us who have sought meaning in catastrophe
and needed a way to live on. - Abigail Thomas, author of A Three Dog Life

·  The Kate you will come to know in this book is 100% real: honest, brave, holy, ridiculous,
profane, hilarious, human - her fierce and beautiful words will make you . . . long for
courage to tell the truth about your [own] life. - Amy K. Butler, Senior Minister, The Riverside Church

·  Throughout, the author delivers raw emotion, realistic description, and candid assessments… An inspiring story of finding faith—in God, in family, and in oneself—while walking close to the Valley of the Shadow of Death.” - Kirkus Reviews