Have you ever found yourself waiting for life to begin?
Waiting until the timing is right, until everything falls into place, until you’ve achieved something important or until you finally feel ready to embrace the life you’ve imagined?
What if the life you’ve been waiting for is already happening?
In Grief and Wonder: A Story of Loss, Magic, and Reinvention, Susan Cato invites readers into an intensely personal exploration of grief, survival, identity and the extraordinary possibilities that can emerge when we begin living more fully.
Published by The Unbound Press, this thought-provoking memoir brings together profound experiences of loss and trauma with moments of unexpected beauty, curiosity and wonder.
We’re delighted to be featuring Grief and Wonder on a Love Books Tours Bookstagram tour from 16th to 20th November 2026.
Throughout the tour, our wonderful reviewers will be sharing their thoughts on Susan’s memoir, offering readers an opportunity to discover this deeply personal story and explore its themes.
Whether you enjoy memoirs, reflective nonfiction or books that encourage you to look at life from a different perspective, we’d love you to follow along.
About Grief and Wonder
Title: Grief and Wonder: A Story of Loss, Magic, and Reinvention
Author: Susan Cato
Publisher: The Unbound Press
Genre: Nonfiction | Memoir
Pages: 282
Bookstagram Tour: 16th–20th November 2026
Book Blurb
Grief and Wonder: A Memoir
This is a story shaped by two truths held at the same time: profound trauma and extraordinary beauty. A childhood fractured by loss and mental illness. A lifetime of going through the motions. And underneath it all, a collection of magical things that kept calling her back to life.
For fifty years, Susan Cato was waiting. Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for her life to begin. Waiting for someday. She was successful by every measure that mattered to the world. She was also absent from her own life. Then came the moment she decided to live her life instead of waiting for it.
Grief and Wonder is an unflinching memoir about a journey from survival and postponement to presence and aliveness. It traces the moment when simply existing transforms into truly living. Susan Cato weaves together childhood trauma, decades of performative living, and the pivotal recognition that waiting for life to happen is itself a kind of death. Through poetic interludes and raw honesty, she examines what it takes to stop performing and start being. To step out of survival mode and into actual aliveness. To recognize that every moment is your life, not a rehearsal for it. She explores how beauty and devastation coexist, and what it means to show up fully for your own existence.
This is a love letter to everyone who’s been waiting. An invitation to choose differently, no matter what stage of life you’re in. To live passionately. To show up. To find joy. Because this is not a dress rehearsal, and simply existing is not the same as really living.
A Memoir About Grief, Reinvention and Choosing to Live
One of the most compelling themes running through Grief and Wonder is the idea that a person can appear successful while feeling disconnected from their own life.
Susan Cato explores the difference between meeting the expectations of the world and discovering what it means to feel truly present.
Through her experiences of childhood trauma, loss and personal reinvention, she reflects on the ways people can spend years surviving rather than fully participating in their own existence.
Yet this is not simply a memoir about grief.
It is also about curiosity, the natural world, connection and the unexpected moments of beauty that can exist even alongside profound sadness.
Susan’s story invites readers to reflect on their own experiences, the dreams they may have postponed and the possibilities that might still be waiting to be explored.
For readers who appreciate honest, emotionally reflective memoirs, Grief and Wonder offers a deeply personal perspective on loss, transformation and the search for a meaningful life.
Follow the Grief and Wonder Bookstagram Tour
We’re delighted to introduce Susan Cato’s memoir to our international Bookstagram community.
From 16th to 20th November 2026, our reviewers will be sharing their independent reading experiences, exploring the book’s themes and helping readers discover Susan’s story.
We’d love you to visit their accounts, follow the conversation and discover what different readers take away from this memoir.
Bookstagram Tour Schedule
Monday 16th November 2026
- @nadz_sargent
Tuesday 17th November 2026
- @daisyhollands
Wednesday 18th November 2026
- @afelton6212
- @pages_of_adventure_
Thursday 19th November 2026
- @v.big.bookstack
Friday 20th November 2026
- @bgaugustine
Follow @LoveBooksTours on Instagram to discover the reviews and explore more memoirs, nonfiction titles and thought-provoking books.
Meet the Author: Susan Cato
Susan Cato has lived many lives within one.
A mother, executive, Master Naturalist, amateur powerlifter and lifelong seeker, her experiences have taken her through grief, reinvention, loss and unexpected wonder.
Curiosity has remained a constant throughout her journey, alongside a belief that an extraordinary life isn’t necessarily waiting somewhere else. It may already exist around us, if we’re willing to notice it.
Nature has been one of Susan’s most important teachers, while community has provided connection and support.
Grief and Wonder is her first book.
Susan lives in Central Virginia, where she enjoys lifting heavy things and spending time immersed in the mountains of the Blue Ridge.
You can connect with Susan on Instagram at @TheSusanCato or visit her website at susancato.com.
Why Add Grief and Wonder to Your Reading List?
If you enjoy memoirs that explore the complexities of human experience with honesty and reflection, Grief and Wonder may be a compelling addition to your bookshelf.
Susan’s story explores childhood trauma, loss, identity, reinvention and the search for a life that feels meaningful.
It also considers how beauty and devastation can coexist, and how curiosity, nature and human connection can shape our experiences.
Rather than offering a simple account of overcoming adversity, this memoir invites readers to consider what it means to be present in their own lives.
For those drawn to reflective nonfiction, personal journeys and stories of transformation, Grief and Wonder offers plenty to think about.
Where to Buy Grief and Wonder
Ready to discover Susan Cato’s story?
Buy Grief and Wonder by Susan Cato here:
Follow Along with the Bookstagram Tour
We’d love you to follow along as our Bookstagram hosts explore Grief and Wonder and share their thoughts with readers around the world.
Visit the accounts listed in our tour schedule to discover their reviews and the different perspectives they bring to Susan’s memoir.
Perhaps this is the book that will inspire your next meaningful reading experience.
You can also connect with the author, publisher and tour team on Instagram:
Author: @TheSusanCato
Publisher: @TheUnboundPress
Tour Host: @LoveBooksTours
Bookstagram Community: @LBT.Crew
Discover the book:
https://mybook.to/4SWE
Happy reading!
Love Books Tours
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