How can we try and live a human life in a world that increasingly asks us to live faster, to carry more? Many of us are running on empty, tired in ways that sleep can’t fix. We’re told the answer lies within – in medication, meditation, in rewiring our behaviour and our minds. But what if there were another way?

After years of listening, Chris Cleave – psychotherapist, researcher and bestselling novelist – arrived at a simple, radical conclusion: the wound is not yours alone. Trauma is not a private condition to be cured, but the very core of our shared humanity. This is a truth our ancestors knew, and that modern life has caused us to forget.

In this clear-eyed, humane and ultimately hopeful book, Cleave draws on clinical practice, research and an immense storytelling gift to show how we can make the world our medicine, and move from mere coping to true flourishing. Through intimate, beautifully told case studies, he offers ways to restore the ten vital relationships that make us human: with our bodies and minds; our work and our spending; with place, planet and history; with one another, with our childhoods, and with our own choices.

This is not self-help. It is not smart thinking. It will not ask you to try harder. It invites you to do something far easier: to come home, and be human again.

© Chris Cleave 2027 (P) Penguin Audio 2027