Mary Anne Willow Portrait - Author of the memoir The Grace of a Nightingale

Hello

…welcome to my website about my memoir The Grace of a Nightingale, writing, living fully and making a difference in the world.

My debut book

The Grace of a Nightingale has won a Finalist Medal at the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Memoirs (Personal Struggle/Health Issues).

It is available to buy worldwide in Hardback, Paperback and Kindle.

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The Grace of a Nightingale Cover with Indie Book Award
My second book

What are your deepest longings, hopes and fears? Do you yearn to live more freely, healed and detached from negative emotions: resentment, grief, fear, jealousy, anger, low self-esteem? Do you want some control over the remnants of past hurts and disappointments? Are you searching for a remedy to convert sad memories into happy memories?

If you are willing to embark on a life-transforming journey of discovery in search of your true authentic self, then this is the perfect place to start.

The Wisom of a Nightingale cover
Blog updates
2024 Indie Book Award Finalist
2024 Indie Book Award Finalist

I’m delighted my debut book THE GRACE OF A NIGHTINGALE has just won a Finalist Medal from the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Memoirs (Personal Struggle/Health Issues) @indiebookawards The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is The Largest International Book Awards for Indie Authors and Publishers.

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The Music of the Nightingale
The Music of the Nightingale

My first knowing encounter with music was listening to the radio as a young girl. I immediately noticed how rhythms, melodies and lyrics vibrantly evoked fresh exciting feelings and a life-giving energy. At the age of nine in 1971 one of the earliest songs I can recall was ‘Maggie May’ by Rod Stewart. I vividly

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My Memoir is Preserved in Perpetuity
My Memoir is Preserved in Perpetuity

My memoir ‘The Grace of a Nightingale’ is to be preserved in perpetuity within the five most prestigious libraries in the UK and Ireland: The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the Cambridge University Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin.

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Princess Diana, a Nurse and a Red Balloon
Princess Diana, a Nurse and a Red Balloon

Princess Diana, a Nurse and a Red Balloon This year would have been Princess Diana’s sixtieth birthday. I met her briefly. This is a story of the indelible memories of that day preserved by the power of the liminal space between beauty and pain. While time can erase events from our memory, this is a

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Your  Ego (who you think you are) Vs. Your True Essence (who you really are)
Your Ego (who you think you are) Vs. Your True Essence (who you really are)

Throughout my life my ‘inner essence’ has often guided my work and career choices. It enabled me to make life changing decisions based on the desire to serve others and ignore my ego which was driven by selfish individualism. In the words of Richard Rohr “the ego is that part of the self that wants

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What is your calling?
What is your calling?

What is your calling? It was the end of British summertime 1994. I had become a child of God earlier that same year – Easter. Six months later I was invited to join a close friend on a Christian women’s retreat at a secluded coastal Georgian country house. I was to receive a calling which I avoided for

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