The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival

From iconic leader Bozoma Saint John, comes a memoir of grief, and one woman’s drive to thrive in the face of loss

When Bozoma Saint John’s husband, Peter, died of cancer, she made one big decision: to live life urgently. Bozoma was no stranger to adversity, having lost her college boyfriend to suicide, navigated an interracial marriage, grieved a child born prematurely–a process that led to her and Peter’s separation–and navigated coparenting the daughter who she and Peter shared. When Peter knew his cancer was terminal, he gave Bozoma a short list of things to do: cancel the divorce, and fix the wrongs immediately.

In The Urgent Life, Bozoma takes readers through the dizzying, numbing days of multiple griefs, and the courage which these sparked in her to live life in accordance with her deepest values time and time again. We witness Bozoma’s journey forward through the highs and the lows, as she navigates life as a woman determined to learn from tragedies to build a remarkable life worth living even in her brokenness.

Bozoma’s story is extraordinary, but her grief is not uncommon, and her courage is sure to touch any reader who has loved, mourned and is finding a path through loss and grief, as well as anyone who is navigating a pivot and wants to live life to its fullest.