When Jessie Stephens went through a difficult breakup, she started to look for books or stories that would reflect her experience and perhaps give her some hope for the future. There were plenty of guide books in the '101 tips to cure a broken heart' vein, but what Jessie wanted were stories. She wanted to read about other people's experiences, to see the universalities, and to feel connected to others who were struggling in a similar way. Now she's written the book she needed to read - a close-up, compelling narrative nonfiction account of many lows and occasional surprising highs of heartbreak.

Based on intensive interviews with three main subjects, Jessie has woven together three vastly different - yet breathtakingly similar - stories of heartbreak. Claire has returned from London to the dust and familiarity of her childhood home, Toowoomba, after breaking up with her girlfriend Maggie. Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he teams up with Caitlin on a group project - but does she feel as connected as he does? And Ana is happily married with three children, until the night she falls in love with her best friend.

Bruising, beautiful, achingly specific but wholeheartedly universal, Heartsick reminds us that emotional pain can make us as it breaks us, and that storytelling has the ultimate healing power.