Bright Shining

From the bestselling author of Phosphorescence comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ABIA GENERAL NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED, 2024 WALKLEY BOOK AWARD

'Luminous ... A work to both devour and savour, Baird has, once again, written a book the world needs now.' Guardian

Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found, in part, when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, and better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable.

But we live in an era where grace is an increasingly rare currency. The silos we consume information in are dotting the media landscape like skyscrapers, and the growing distrust in media, politicians, and public figures, have in some ways choked our ability to cut each other slack, to allow each other to stumble, to forgive one another.

So what does grace look like in our world, and how do we recognise it, nurture it in ourselves, and express it, even in the darkest of times?

From award-winning journalist Julia Baird, author of the acclaimed national bestseller Phosphorescence, comes Bright Shining, a luminously beautiful, deeply insightful, and most timely exploration of grace.

'Fascinating, wide-ranging and moving' The Age

'The uplift and power of Bright Shining ... is to be found in the way Baird gives grace fresh currency by bringing this beautiful and elusive condition from the theological margins into the mainstream and showing, with passion and verve, how quietly transformative it can be.' Sydney Morning Herald

'Effervescent ... poignant. Even cynics will be moved.' Publishers Weekly

'Enlightening, surprising, absorbing .. I learned something every chapter and put the book down full of awe at the power of human beings to be good to each other when no-one would expect it. It's the book I needed to read right now. It filled my cup.' Annabel Crabb