ZEST is a personal account of how we can seek meaning and joy by facing and accepting our imperfections. Daniel, a Wellington King’s Counsel, describes his journey of depression with humour, wisdom, and philosophy — he sought more than wellness platitudes to manage these struggles. His book connects strands of philosophy from Stoicism and Buddhism, and draws from writings by George Eliot and Iris Murdoch.

This is not a manual for how to ‘get well’. It’s for the many people in careers like Daniel, the high-fliers and the driven who don’t stop to smell the flowers, then hit the wall and wonder how to get over that wall.

Daniel’s book can help people see there is no ‘cure’ as such, that they need to embrace this part of them to understand they can still live an enjoyable and successful life. Life is not all about running for the next prize, because what comes after that? Another prize? And then another? And what does that make you, in the end?

An elegantly written book that will be an enormous help to many who wish to find a way through the fog to once more follow their North Star.