How We Break

Drawing on a wide range of sources about the human experience, Vincent Deary has written a warm and compassionate book about how we hurt and how we heal. A rich and humane work

Gwen Adshead, forensic psychiatrist and author of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

From a deep mine of science, philosophy, art and personal experience, Vincent Deary has produced a treasure of a book. Every page of How We Break gleams with wisdom and insight. Nobody could fail to be enriched by it

Matt Rowland Hill, author of ORIGINAL SINS

Deary’s exhilarating new book mixes science, philosophy and memoir to argue that self-acceptance is our best defence against the stress of living… Deary’s writing is wise and compassionate, sometimes florid and always interesting – few writers could jump so nimbly between Proust and RuPaul, neuroscience and the occult. … Deary’s is the rare book that helps you see the world a little differently

Sophie McBain, The New Statesman

The psychologist and researcher’s persuasive inquiry into how life’s struggles take their toll is full of hard-won wisdom... There is a rawness to Deary’s analysis that gives a compelling human edge to his theorising

Tim Adams, Observer (Book of the Day)

A lyrical and ultimately uplifting examination of what happens when our minds and bodies are put under extreme stress or suffering

Isabel Berwick, The Financial Times

Deary offers a thought experiment that just might be a game-changer

Niamh Jimenez, The Irish Times

In How We Break, the health psychologist Vincent Deary suggests some answers for ­‘navigating the wear and tear of living’… This essential self-exploration underlines the deeply humane plea which is the heartbeat of the book: for more self-compassion… There is much wisdom in Deary’s regret that this society has neglected the idea of convalescence’

Bel Mooney, The Daily Mail

A particular strength of the book is the way Deary weaves between different schools of thought within psychology, philosophy and religion. The result is not merely a discussion of abstract ideas, but a collection of valuable observations about what it means to be human in the modern world

the Guardian