A Brilliant Life

A delicate, evocative story of strength and survival that turns on one of the most powerful forces in the known universe: a mother's love. Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape Artist

This is a loving and tender book. It has a great simplicity of heart and openness of spirit ... it models the skill of restoration, of building a new life without the need for retribution. The world is currently in deep trauma. Somewhere the pain must end. Indirectly, this book suggests that such an ending is possible ... Mira's story presents a key to the future of humanity.Sydney Morning Herald

An affirmation of the miraculous nature of the human mind to make sense of humanity's worst inclinations, not just survive themRachel Griffiths

If A Brilliant Life were a painting, it would be hanging in a Palazzo in Italy among the classic chiaroscuro paintings of Caravaggio - a technique from the Renaissance era where the contrast of light and dark brushstrokes tells the whole story with some melancholy shades. Unreich has cleverly painted her mother's story in all its shades of glory and despair; a woman who stepped into the canvas of life and painted her own bright fulfilling future.Harper's Bazaar