In Joy Dettman’s ‘The Hope Flower’ there is a volatile mother, her children raise themselves away from the gaze of the authorities, but when she emerges after body shaping surgery, will it be for hope or hell? Michael McGirr provides us with a potted history of philosophy connecting the ideas and themes in a very personal way to his own real life experiences and challenges in, ‘Ideas to Save Your Life – philosophy for wisdom, solace and pleasure’.