When the Dust Settles: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. 'A marvellous book' -- Rev Richard Coles

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Random House presents the audiobook edition of Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, read by Noako Mori. The final part of the book which touches briefly on the pandemic only hints at the frustration that she must have felt, after years of struggling to convince those in power of the importance of detailed implementation and recovery plans, and training, to see things fall apart in the way that they did. Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Yet it also makes a powerful case for facing up to the worst head on, if we ever want to find hope and even a measure of healing after disaster.

When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can – and must – be found on the darkest days. Her tone was perfect, she was unafraid to be "naughty", but she was firm in her convictions she really knows her stuff. In When the Dust Settles we see how over the years the UK government becomes less invested in investing in disaster planning.While Easthope has seen for herself that there is life after tragedy, she also understands that “disaster is perpetual, chronic, with a pain that ebbs and flows like tides”. Lucy Easthope did a marvelous job narrating her book and it makes it all the more personal that it's the author reading it herself. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived.

After my recent foray into books on forensics and policing, I was pleased to discover a whole new area along the same veins that I hadn’t yet considered. The long-term effects of decisions made early on can have a long-lasting impact (both positive and negative) on those who are left behind. The author has been present in many natural and manmade disasters around the world, and she shares something of the experience.Yet when she arrives at another scene of carnage, she tells us, she is “always struck by how fine the line between catastrophe and the rest of the world can be”. In this candid memoir she introduces us to victims and their families, but also takes us into the government briefing rooms and bunkers, where confusion can reign supreme. I have written in several places about my unhappiness with the lack of systems-thinking during the pandemic, and Chapter 16 The End explains Lucy’s role as advisor to the cabinet before and during the pandemic. Instead of being asked about what we thought survivors might need in any given scenario or how a public health message might be received, we were now being asked to judge whether we thought the prime minister would be able to weather the storm or have to resign. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa - the world's longest-living people - finding it is the key to a longer and more fulfilled life.

She seems to have attended most of this century’s biggest disasters that have involved British citizens, here in the UK and abroad. The audiobook reflects Rhonda’s own journey and shares the most direct way out for those experiencing hardship and the path to end pain and suffering endured by so many, and it shines a light on a future without anxiety or fear.I encountered the poverty and addiction and isolation and inequality that has blighted so many of our lives. I loved that alongside the narrative were the family events and the angst and suffering that the family experienced over time. Her ongoing concern for those who died and those who survived does not ignore the politics or incompetence but focuses on the impact on people which, as she points out, we shall be living with for a very long time. She doesn't dwell on the trauma, though, instead bringing a quiet and considered calm and logic which is reassuring and refreshing.

New and familiar characters abound, voiced by a bright mix of performers, including Kat Dennings, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Michael Sheen, Kristen Schaal, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Wright, and so many more, including fan-favorite narrators Simon Vance and Ray Porter. It is written in a conversational style and is recommended for readers interested in the dynamics of global disaster management. I have to admit within seconds of listening to this book I felt a kinship to Lucy upon hearing her recount a Liverpudlian childhood steeped in the Hillsborough tragedy. I was lucky to meet Lucy online during the start of the pandemic, which then resulted in meeting up when lockdown restrictions allowed. Mum described it not as a book that she couldn't put down but one which she had to, repeatedly, to be able to finish it.

With wisdom, resilience and candour, When the Dust Settles lifts us up by showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days. Now, at last, the acclaimed clinicians are sharing their methods in this eye-opening and empowering book.