The extraordinary life story of Australia's beloved Julie Goodwin, first winner of MasterChef and bestselling cookbook author

Julie Goodwin was catapulted into our hearts as the first-ever winner of MasterChef Australia. In many ways her win was unlikely. As a child Julie adored music and art, but her career began in youth work, including in a juvenile detention centre housing troubled boys and a toxic all-male staff. After her three sons were born, she and her husband started an IT business.

Then came MasterChef – a record-breaking juggernaut of a show. The attention and opportunities that flowed from Julie’s win were thrilling and overwhelming. She became a columnist for Australian Women’s Weekly, a presenter on Today, published numerous cookbooks and made appearances on many shows including facing off with snakes and alligators on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! For years she co-hosted an award-winning breakfast radio show, and she opened a thriving cooking school.

It was by all appearances, a successful, rewarding life. But under the surface relentless pressure from Julie’s outer and inner worlds was taking its toll. Struggling with depression, anxiety and addiction, with bushfires blazing and lockdowns looming, Julie found herself hospitalised in a mental health unit.

Her recovery, bumpy and circuitous, is an ongoing process that Julie tackles with tenacity. In this gloriously candid, deeply moving memoir, filled with beautiful food, astonishing people, humour and heart, Julie writes with brutal honesty about her struggles. We are brought into her story, into her unravelling and quest for healing as she seeks to resume a richly lived life.