The Brave InBetween, Amy Low
The Brave InBetween, Amy Low
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Brave In-Between
Notes from the Last Room

Author: Amy Low

Narrator: Leanne Woodward

Unabridged: 6 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2024


Synopsis

This honest and emotional memoir presents much needed lessons and advice for navigating uncertainty in the worst of times. 

Amy Low resides in a room that is her last—her medical team is clear-eyed with her: there is no cure for Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, and the odds of long-term survival are scant. Miraculously, she’s lived four years with her diagnosis, and that life between life has changed her.
 
Through the swirl of prolonged trauma and unbearable grief, a vantage point emerged—a window that showed her the way to relish life and be kinder to herself and others while living through the inevitable loss and heartbreak that crosses everyone’s paths. Instead of viewing joy and sorrow as opposites, she saw how both exist in harmony, full of mystery and surprise. Instead of seeing days as succeeding or failing, and physical selves as healthy or unwell, she’s learned to carry both achievements and afflictions in stride. And instead of bitterness and betrayal, forgiveness—toward her body, toward others, toward herself—became her wisest light.
 
Mapping her experiences to the words that St. Paul wrote in his own last room, The Brave In-Between is a sacred invitation to explore that space between triumph and tragedy. We all have a heart to marvel at miracles, a lightness to spot the absurdity, and an imagination to pause and extend empathy for others—even when tragedy strikes. Sometimes we just need a guide.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Maddie on June 06, 2024

Amy Low so generously invites us into her “last room,” a metaphor she weaves to describe the final phase of life that we all someday must occupy. A single Bay Area mom to two brilliant kids, her stage IV metastatic colon cancer diagnosis came as a shock. She graces us with her harrowing tale of moth......more

Goodreads review by Beary Into Books on December 29, 2023

So emotional, makes you think deeper about your own life. Full review to come.......more

Goodreads review by Liz on March 13, 2024

An achingly human and honest memoir that illustrates Paul’s passage in a modern time; it gives wings to hope and comfort in the face of the last room.......more

Goodreads review by Lori on September 22, 2024

Very well-done book. I heard Amy Low recently on a podcast and knew I needed to read her book about having stage 4 colon cancer. I appreciate that she was so transparent about her messy feelings, yet continued to believe in God. I also appreciated that she never got preachy and never used churchy wo......more

Goodreads review by Marla on June 23, 2024

This was a book I couldn't put down. The story was captivating: beautifully honest and filled with hope, in spite of the devastating circumstances the author has faced/is facing. She walks us through her story--which exemplifies the fragility of our very existence--with uncommon vulnerability, coura......more


Quotes

“Amy's story is a rich mix of courage, grace, persistence, and most important, love. This is a book to treasure.”—Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president, Emerson Collective

“So many people are in pain these days, enduring hard times, facing challenges. They are wondering, ‘How do I do this?’ Amy Low is the perfect guide."—David Brooks, New York Times columnist and New York Times bestselling author of How to Know a Person

"Every day, all over the world, people get news they cannot bear--of a diagnosis, a coup, a melting polar ice cap, a sudden, wrenching loss, a newly named variant. With honesty, humor, wisdom and grace, Amy Low shines a light through the darkness. This book is a treasure to live by, to wrap up with a bow and give to everyone we know."—Amanda Ripley, New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World, The Unthinkable, and High Conflict

“So many of Amy’s dispatches read like poetry— deeply wise, profound, gorgeously written.  Her words vibrate with optimism, humor, and her relentless spirit. In these dystopian days we need a voice like Amy’s to shake us out of our stupor and remind us to take one more step forward, one more step up that mountain.”—Dave Isay, founder of NPR’s StoryCorps and New York Times bestselling author of Listening is an Act of Love, Callings, and more

"Amy Low's story is at once fragile and strong. And yet in the hardest places, we know that fragility and strength are often intertwined. Amy brings us all closer to that intertwined space. This book gives us new ways to hold both, with renewed resilience and gratitude."—Arne Duncan, former United States Secretary of Education, CEO of Chicago Public Schools and founder of CRED

"Amy Low's journey of alchemizing life's wounds into hope, courage, and forgiveness is poignant and powerful. She finds grace in the depths, buoyed by her faith—and offers us guidance to do the same."—J. Dana Trent, author of Between Two Trailers