This is a book that gets to the heart of a dilemma for millions of men and women around the world: what do you do when you find yourself in a relationship with someone who doesn’t want children?

Therese O’Beirne spent her twenties climbing the corporate ladder and by the age of 30 she had it all: an exciting career, a luxurious city apartment and a loving, long-term relationship.

But Therese’s world came crashing down around her. When she got up the courage to ask her boyfriend about having a baby together, he flatly told her that it was out of the question. She spent the next year growing increasingly resentful and one day.

Therese abandoned her career, packed her bags flew to Bali on a one-way ticket, where she spent the next month bawling her eyes out. But after passing through the seven stages of grief, Therese resolved to start living life on her own terms. She started practicing yoga and was surrounded by playful young Balinese children — and she even got herself a Moroccan lover.

It’s a story of the heartbreak and despair a young woman felt at having to choose between love and the prospect of a life without children. Finding herself single for the first time in 15 years, Therese vividly describes how she found the strength to pick up the pieces of her life and start afresh

This is a book of nonfiction, memoir and self-motivation and it explores the pressure society places on women to be married and have kids by a certain age or be deemed “on the shelf.”

This is a story not just about a relationship gone wrong — it’s about self-love, personal growth, courage and new beginnings.

Perry Michele