A funny, closely observed, and briskly honest guide the pleasures and perils of living life fully as a woman on the road to the far side of mid-life.

At the age of sixty-eight, with children well-launched and husband long-exed and recently retired from a demanding career, Cathrin Bradbury realized she needed a map—several in fact, some physical, some of the mind and heart—to guide her through the coming milestones and all of the inevitable "comes with age" stuff.

This book is her report from the road; a joyful, polished, often hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching exploration of the questions and (some) answers that arise when you hit the three-quarter mark of a busy life.

How do you stop shaming yourself about an aging body? (Hint: listen to the kids!) What are you willing to give up to pursue the creative passion you long ago put aside—and what might you gain in return? How do you become someone who allows the day to unfold after decades of list-making and agenda-managing?

And what might happen if one day, after nearly fifty years, you suddenly get a text from your first true love?

Drawing on her own life and conversations with siblings, younger family members, friends, as well as authorities in social science, philosophy, and literature, Cathrin Bradbury carries us with her as she explores this territory that we all hope to reach, taking on new ideas and adventures with insight, soaring optimism, and a bracing dose of humor.

Cathrin Bradbury's profile page

CATHRIN BRADBURY worked as a leader and top editor of major Canadian news organizations and magazines for forty years, including as Senior News Director at CBC News, Senior Editor at Maclean's magazine, and Managing Editor at The Globe and Mail, where she won two National Newspaper Awards for Special Projects. She currently writes features and a column for the Toronto Star called "The 3/4 Life Crisis," and is a regular contributor to The Walrus magazine, where her feature article "The End of Retirement" was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2024. Her first book, a memoir entitled The Bright Side, was published in 2021. She lives in Toronto.

“This Way Up is a treasure and a map, both at once. Cathrin Bradbury takes the reader on a trip to "three-quarter life," where love, art, and family become more meaningful than ever. A hilarious and unputdownable story of creativity, romance, and never-ending possibility.”
—Elizabeth Renzetti, bestselling author of What She Said

“With her characteristic wit, Bradbury offers a deeply felt and insightful map that takes us through love, loss, family, sickness, heartache, joy and e-bikes as we enter our third act.”
—Don Gillmor, award-winning author of Breaking and Entering

“Equal parts sharp-eyed and tender-hearted, Cathrin Bradbury has written a sly meditation on the wild ride of aging. This Way Up is both memoir and map—a navigation tool through the sticky stuff of life: friends, family, loss and love.”
—Katrina Onstad, award-winning author of Stay Where I Can See You

“The triumph of this book is that it articulates and celebrates the everydayness of life. . . . Treat yourself to This Way Up. It is a touching, engaging—and true—story of a life worth living.”
—Joseph Kertes, award-winning author of Last Impressions

“With razor sharp clarity, sober detachment, and self-deprecating humour, Bradbury takes us on her own journey of unmapping and reclamation. Beautifully written, intimate and wise, This Way Up is a literate and loving testament to being human.”
—Rod Carley, award-winning author of RUFF

“Cathrin Bradbury has pioneered a delicious new form of autobiography that somehow manages to be both hard-nosed journalism of the everyday and stream of consciousness tone poems to a life still unfolding. This Way Up hits a sweet spot on an unlikely new Venn diagram that includes Carl Jung, Elizabeth Strout, David Sedaris, Sheila Heiti, and Martin Amis.”
—Jason S. Logan, author of Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking

“I loved this funny, wise and honest memoir! Cathrin Bradbury creates a deeply personal map of her life, cracking herself open in surprising ways—it made me rethink my own relationship to ageing.”
—Morwyn Brebner, award-winning creator of Rookie Blue and Saving Hope