Joyful, Anyway

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

New York Times bestselling author and Duke University professor Kate Bowler offers a profound, funny, and deeply human case for joy that doesn’t depend on everything getting better.

‘Bowler interrogates the idea of a meaningful life, not just for ourselves but for others, too. I value her work so much’ — PANDORA SYKES

'A delight from start to finish, Joyful, Anyway embodies the mix of pleasure and aching that makes us human' — KATHERINE MAY, AUTHOR OF WINTERING

'Joyful, Anyway is colourful and layered, unafraid of the occasional gut-punch of raw feeling and vulnerability - much like Kate Bowler herself' — JERRY SEINFELD

'A deeply moving everyday masterpiece. I loved it' — ELIZABETH GILBERT, AUTHOR OF EAT, PRAY, LOVE

You can't always be happy, but you can be joyful, anyway.

After surviving a stage-four cancer diagnosis, Kate Bowler knew she was supposed to be grateful. Alive. Blessed. But she still ached – for more connection, more surprise, less resentment on an ordinary day. So she went looking for joy. Not the toxic positivity kind. Not a five-step plan. But the type that sneaks in unexpectedly, seemingly out of nowhere.

In Joyful, Anyway, Bowler takes us on a hilarious and tender journey through big questions and small delights. With wry wit and deep honesty, she explores how joy can surprise us even in the middle of pain, boredom, and longing.

This is not a book about fixing your life. It is about how we can all find more and feel more, by making room for small extraordinary moments. For anyone who has ever felt stuck, who is aching for meaning, who feels undone by loss, who feels that joy is just out of reach, who wants, simply, to have more fun, Joyful, Anyway is a delicious, insightful tour through the questions that sit in the deepest part of our souls. It proves that for every time we ask: Is this it? Joy will answer: there is more.