"A mix of plangent emotion and deep insights into end-of-life medicine, delivered in limpid, moving prose." —Kirkus STARRED Review

"Because I Knew You is a closely observed memoir of personal and professional development. Macauley is an ethicist, cleric, and physician whose own emotional suffering have opened his heart and honed his skills in ways that makes healing possible." —Ira Byock, MD, best-selling author of The Four Things That Matter Most, Dying Well, and The Best Care Possible

“Robert Macauley’s Because I Knew You is an extraordinary book—a tender, raw, personal, and deeply sophisticated inquiry into life and loss. [...] Even if life spares you the need to face the deepest challenges presented in Because I Knew You, to read it is to heal from any pain. It is a work for the ages.” —Robin Oliveira, author of My Name Is Mary Sutter, I Always Loved You, Winter Sisters, and A Wild and Heavenly Place

"Part memoir, part manual, Bob's beautiful book will take you all sorts of places that are otherwise very hard to get to. Go! Learn, as the author himself did, how brave, honest, wise, and generous humans can be." —BJ Miller, author of A Beginner’s Guide to the End and the Ted-talk "What Really Matters at the End of Life"

“A profound and totally engrossing exploration of the painful yet beautiful world of children facing serious illness. To their remarkable courage Bob Macauley adds his own fascinating journey, not only as the doctor who cares for them but someone in need of healing, too. Pick up this book to be inspired, but rest assured that the human stories and life lessons will remain with you long after you put it down.”
—Elisha Waldman, MD, author of This Narrow Space: A pediatric oncologist, his Jewish, Muslim, and Christian parents, and a hospital in Jerusalem

“With tenderness, grace, and hard-won insight, Dr. Macauley shares with us his painful yet life-celebrating journey with terminally ill children. Amid tragedy, he insists on each patient’s humanity, uncovering what they love, what they dream to be, discovering with them ways in which to fit their dreams into their brief yet abundant lives. The core of this mesmerizing and unexpectedly uplifting book is what these children teach him. Their courage, their insistence on life lived with joy, changes the good doctor who possesses a painful past, indeed heals the good doctor. Because I Knew You is an instant classic and a book especially suited to our times.” —Connie May Fowler, author of Before Women had Wings and   A Million Fragile Bones

 “Certainly, this is a must-read for anyone considering becoming a clinician; but really it is for anyone who seeks inspiration for what it means to be a loving witness to the struggles of others and how we can be transformed by such presence.”  —Blyth Lord, Executive Director, Courageous Parents Network

“By reminding us what really matters, and inspiring us to make a difference when we are most needed, Because I Knew You turns grief into courage and hardship into hope.” —Stephen P. Kiernan, author of Last Rights: Rescuing the end of life from the medical system and The Baker’s Secret