Book excerpt: This book tells the story of one man's journey from happiness to despair and back again. At thirty-two and at the peak of health, D.D. Mayers lived in a Kenyan paradise with his beautiful wife. Then tragedy struck; an accident left him paralysed from the waist down, destined to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Mayers takes the reader on an emotional yet witty and amusing tour of his life, guiding us from his childhood (and the ‘pointless' schooling he receives) through to his emergence as a young man who somehow finds himself earning money as a professional actor. One role takes him to Kenya, where we meet his wonderful wife, and we join the two for a trip through the Middle East, many years before war ravaged much of its warmth and beauty. After moving to London for a number of years, the couple return to Kenya - only for them to experience a life-changing event. The gripping storytelling throughout the book takes us from the author’s despair and feelings of worthlessness all the way through to a final, peaceful contentment. You will laugh and you will cry - but you won’t be able to put the book down.