Sometimes, difficulties and loss can reshape who we are and nudge us into growing. Just like a caterpillar sheds its skin and spins itself a silky chrysalis, what results is a breathtakingly beautiful creature we could never imagine, the butterfly. Meg Nocero’s story is not so different as she depicts her extraordinary transformation in Butterfly Awakens.

As a forty-something Italian-American immigration attorney, Meg moves through unimaginable grief and sadness watching her beloved mother lose her battle to breast cancer. Questioning her life choices and opening herself up to her soul’s calling, Nocero brings readers along on her journey through a dark night of the soul. We experience with her the grieving process, a toxic work environment, and intense stress that results in depression and anxiety, along with a somatic nervous disorder called tinnitus. Meg never gives up and– instead– looks for the help she needs to start to heal and find her light. In the end, like the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly, her story is a beautiful love letter honoring her mother’s legacy while detailing the awakening of her own.

Among the many stories about breast cancer and grief, none are quite like this one. After resigning from her career as a federal prosecutor due to a toxic administration, she searches for the lighthouse she saw in a vision when her mother died. Embarking on an inspiring spiritual pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain to get to the lighthouse at Cap Finisterre, she sets out to wake up and live again. The butterfly connection and stark honesty of her writing offers readers important lessons learned from moving through grief so that each person can shine their light again.