'It's up to us, the baby-boomer generation, to invent a new way of growing old – and paradoxically, this means accepting the ageing process but without becoming 'old'. How do we become the life and soul of the party and not the party poopers? This impetus behind this book is the certainty that there is something in us that never grows old. I like to call it the heart. Not the organ, which clearly does grow old, but the capacity to love and to desire. This inexplicable, incomprehensible force is what keeps human beings alive.' The inevitable ageing process does not condemn us to solitude, suffering, degradation or dependency. Without mincing her words, Marie de Hennezel guides us through a true 'art of growing old'. She recalls her encounters as a clinical psychologist with 'those who grow old gracefully' – and through her experience shows us how to make the most of this time in our lives, to avoid depression and to stay happy.