The whole world held its breath as 2020 dawned and Australia was on fire. The final toll was breathtaking: 18 million hectares burned, a billion animals killed, 2,800 homes destroyed. Even more tragic-the loss of 33 people in the fires.

In When The Smoke Clears, fire survivor and author Chrissy Guinery presents the human face behind these figures, through first-hand accounts of the day to day struggle to breathe, to believe, to love-under a pall of smoke and in the path of fire.

It's the story of survival that represents the experience of thousands of Australians from the 2019-20 bushfire season, right through to the impact of the coronavirus. And it also begins to answer the question-how do you live, laugh and hope again after your family has been threatened, homes lost, children terrified and the countryside blackened.

When The Smoke Clears is essential reading for anyone in the world who grieved for Australia as it burned, and for anyone at anytime who is wondering where they will find the strength to go on.