This is Also a Love Story

Selected praise:

“In this original and heart-warming book, Sally Hayden chronicles both the astonishing acts of bravery that love inspires, as well as the touchingly ordinary connections people make in extraordinary times. By finding beauty amidst ugliness, she finds a way of making our fractured world whole again.” — Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor for Channel 4 News and author of ‘I Brought The War With Me: Stories and Poems from the Front Line’

“Sally Hayden’s gorgeous work of reportage shows us that in the midst of war, around the most acute suffering, there is also tremendous heroism. For every act of cruelty and dehumanization and indifference, there is resistance and rebellion that takes the form of compassion, humanity, and love.” — Nathan Thrall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘A Day in the Life of Abed Salama’

“Profoundly affecting … it is salutary to be reminded of the spotlights of love and altruism that illuminate even the darkest of stages.” — The Bookseller (which chose it as non-fiction book of the month for May 2026, and a non-fiction “highlight of the season”)

“A searching, deeply moving work that documents how life and love persist against seemingly insurmountable odds.” — Jonathan Blitzer, author of ‘Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis’

“When love seems to be in short supply from Gaza to Tehran to Kiev, the stunning new book by the powerful Irish journalist, Sally Hayden, forces us to reassess our pessimism. Love does exist, burning brightly, across the globe, if we want to see it. This isn’t a naive call for blind passion in the face of war and genocide but a beautifully penned tribute to what can keep us human in the face of catastrophe. Read this book to lighten your soul.” — Antony Loewenstein, author of ‘The Palestine Laboratory’

“What begins as a quest by a conflict journalist frustrated at the way that news reports can strip a war of its humanity quickly becomes a journey of reaffirmation, through the wonder of humanity, and a glorious revelation: how it is in the world’s darkest corners that you find its most remarkable people. Sally Hayden uncovers miracles. She may be one herself.” — Alex Perry, author of ‘Blood Will Flow’ and ‘The Good Mothers’

“Bringing us hope from dark places, this remarkable book is the perfect antidote to our times.” — Christina Lamb

“A beautiful book, as heart-lifting as it is heartrending… Hayden’s tales lay plain what those us who live this work know too well: it often in the midst of the greatest struggles that we find the truest love, laid bare in all its power and intensity. To experience it is to get to the very core of what it means to be alive.” — Leila Molana-Allen, Special Correspondent, PBS Newshour

Preorder here:

UK (publishing May 21, 2026)

Lighthouse (Edinburgh)

Audible (audiobook)

The Cleeve Bookshop (Cheltenham)

The Guardian bookshop

Amazon