Books like Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler

Duke Divinity School professor Kate Bowler, raised in a modest Christian household, has long believed in the prosperity gospel’s promise that fortune is a God‑given blessing. At 35 she enjoys a successful career, a marriage to her high‑school sweetheart, and the birth of a son—everything she would label “blessing.” That serenity shatters when she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Confronted with her own mortality, Bowler discovers that her faith, which credits a surge of determination with shaping destiny, offers no cure for her tumors. The book follows her painful, yet profoundly human journey as she weighs the idea that everything happens for a reason against the harsh reality of a life cut short. Through fraught medical treatments and the support of friends, church leaders, and family, she learns to let go of certainty, finding that a life without prescribed meaning can be both hard and deeply beautiful. Bowler’s account is candid, humorous, and weighted with insight, inviting readers to reconsider the role of faith, perseverance, and love when facing catastrophic illness.

First publish date: 2018