The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting: A French Recipe for a Long Life, Well-Lived [Paperback]

A breakout bestseller in France and the U.K. and a transformative guide to growing older with confidence, courage, and even optimism

How should we accept aging? It’s inevitable, and yet in Western society the very subject of growing older is shrouded in anxiety and shame. Aging brings us face to face with our sacred and our mundane, our imperfections and our failures. Here internationally renowned clinical psychologist and bestselling French author Marie de Hennezel shows us how to see the later stages of life through a prism that celebrates our accomplishments and gives us fulfillment in our present. Combining personal anecdotes with psychological theory, philosophy, and eye-opening scientific research from around the world, this thought-provoking and refreshing book provides a brave and uplifting meditation on our later years as they should be lived. “In this passionate book, de Hennezel takes on Western culture’s obsession with youth. She sets the record straight about the realities of aging and helps readers learn to embrace the work of growing old…. Drawing on literature, film, academia, and numerous interviews with seniors, de Hennezel combines anecdotes with psychological theory, philosophy, and research to present a refreshing take on everything that becoming older can offer. This will appeal to fans of Karl Pillemer’s 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s work. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal

 “This is a subject which all of us deal with, or hope to, and the author’s a wise guide on our shared pilgrimage. Neither a Pollyanna nor Cassandra, Marie de Hennezel has written an inspiring text, and one that crosses the Atlantic with scarcely a hitch in its stride: The Alc)