Marianne Power was stuck in a rut. Then one day she wondered: could self-help books help her find the elusive perfect life?

She decided to test one book a month for a year, following their advice to the letter. What would happen if she followed the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Really felt The Power of Now? Could life be transformed? Because she honestly did want all the things these books promised. To find a Love that Lasts and to unearth The Secret to making your dreams come true.

What begins as a clever experiment becomes an achingly poignant story. Because self-help can change your life - but not necessarily for the better . . .

Help Me is a hysterically funny and incredibly moving book about a wild and ultimately redemptive journey that will resonate with anyone who's ever dreamed of finding happiness.

Prizes

Short-listed for Bord Gais Energy Irish Book of the Year 2018 (UK)

I love it! Hilarious and thought-provoking! Love! -- Fearne Cotton
Marianne's writing makes me smile and has moved me to tears more than once. She combines a journalist's no-nonsense investigative skills with a tenderness and honesty that sets her apart . . . In helping herself, it turned out that Marianne was helping all of us. -- Erin Kelly, Sunday Times bestselling author of He Said/She Said
Sparkling . . . a laugh-out-loud odyssey, with embarrassing incidents and downright disasters aplenty. But the real triumph of the book is the way it transcends its "Bridget Jones gazes at her navel" premise to ask searching questions both about the purported effectiveness of self-help in the light of a multi-million dollar personal development industry; and about how we can really best find contentment. If you've ever worried that self-help might be a euphemism for self-obsession, then this is a book for you. * Bookseller *
Sublime and ridiculous, in equal measure. I tore though it hungrily. One minute I was having an existential epiphany, the next I was honking with laughter. Britain's answer to Sarah Knight, with Amy Schumer's naked hilarity and Matt Haig's soul-deep profundity chucked in. -- Catherine Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

Marianne Power is a writer and journalist who lives in London. Help Me! is her first book.