About Life

Notes on staying grounded in unsettled times

Format:

Pre-order:

Apple Books Bookshop.org Hive Kobo Libro.fm xigxag

After decades studying how people think, behave and deal with what life throws at them, Dr Maureen Gaffney brings together her most important insights in her most personal and accessible book to date.

About Life is an eye-opening guide to how we navigate uncertainty, recover from setbacks and build lives of meaning and resilience. Combining deep psychological wisdom with warmth, clarity and real-world understanding, Dr Gaffney explores the forces that shape us — from family, love, work and friendship to happiness, purpose and ageing.

Dr Gaffney's key insight is that resilience is not an abstract concept but a practical life skill – an essential skill in unstable times and one we can develop and strengthen in how we respond to challenge over time.

About Life is a perceptive and important guide to living well in unsettled times from one of Ireland’s most respected psychologists and commentators.

© Maureen Gaffney 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

About Maureen Gaffney

Dr Maureen Gaffney is a leading clinical psychologist, writer and broadcaster. She has had a distinguished academic career and has worked as a consultant, specializing in leadership and organizational change, working with companies around the world to build strong, emotionally intelligent leadership and innovative and resilient work cultures. Among her clients have been multinational organisations in financial services and in the voluntary and community sectors. She has served on numerous state and other boards and is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board of Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Maureen is also a popular columnist and broadcaster and an inspirational and authoritative speaker who has addressed audiences in Ireland, the UK, the US, Sweden, Germany and Spain. Her previous books Flourishing (2011) and Your One Wild and Precious Life (2021) were both No 1 Irish bestsellers. Flourishing was the basis of a major two-part RTÉ TV documentary, and Your One Wild and Precious Life won the RTÉ Audience Choice Irish Book Award and was shortlisted for overall Irish Book of the Year in 2021. She lives in Dublin with her husband, John. They have two grown-up children and five grandchildren.

Learn more

Details