In this heartfelt, brave and honest account, Kerry Fisher and Pat Sowa share everything they’ve learnt from surviving the darkest of times. They shine a light on what it really feels like when your world shatters and how they found hope in the deepest despair.

Best friends since they met at university, Kerry and Pat had no idea that thirty years later, they’d need every ounce of their friendship to survive. In 2017, their worlds came crashing down when their teenage sons were both diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses within weeks of each other.

During the following rollercoaster months, Kerry and Pat regularly snatched time to message each other - often with black humour - providing a momentary refuge from their frightening realities. Together these two ordinary mums found a way to survive their extraordinary challenges and to navigate a new normal in an alien and isolating world. With raw honesty, they share the things they’ve learnt and what they wish they’d known - from how to tame raging mother guilt to restoring their natural optimism in the aftershock of tragedy.

In this profoundly moving book, Kerry and Pat take readers on a very personal exploration of the universal experiences of grief and loss, love and friendship that connect us all. Like a wise companion offering comfort, Take My Hand is a lifeline both to those overwhelmed by heartbreak and for friends and family who don’t know how to help. Most of all, it’s a powerful reminder that no matter how difficult life gets, you are not alone.

Read what people are saying about Take My Hand:

‘A truly wonderful book …I found it ultimately optimistic and life-affirming. This book celebrates love - not only mother love, but the love of family and friends, the power of true friendship, and the power of simple kindness - how small kindnesses, particularly those of strangers, can make a difference to the daily life of someone who is on the edge of the abyss… not only will it provide vital support for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to Pat or Kerry, but it may just save a life.’ Susan Elliot Wright

‘Utterly beautiful. Heart-breaking, honest, raw, inspiring, brave, and eye-opening. The subject matter was handled so sensitively, and I think it will be something that many people find helpful.’ Louise Beech

‘Gut-wrenchingly powerful and moving but also, at times, unexpectedly hilarious. Crammed with insight, wisdom and love.’ Nicola Gill

‘Two women on a journey from suffering to hope and inspiring the reader to join them on the road. Inspired and inspiring.’ Ged Flynn, CEO of Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide

‘The book felt like a love letter to friendship and family.’ Milly Camley, CEO of the Institute For Turnaround

‘A brave and brilliant book that is, in turn, wise, sharply funny, searingly sad, brave and honest. It is a testament to family and friendship, and to love, in all its colours…What Kerry and Pat have done is to make their experiences of loss and the fear of loss rise up from its pages, generously providing checklists for others who may be navigating grief, in all its colours.’ Claire Dyer