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Wild and Holy: A Journey Through Grief, Guilt, and Grace in Italy
What if your greatest heartbreak became the beginning of your healing?
On the morning she was scheduled to fly to Italy, Dr. Karen Wyatt received a phone call no physician ever wants to a thirteen-year-old boy under her care had died. Overwhelmed by guilt and haunted by the suicide of her father decades earlier, she boarded the plane anyway—dragging not just a suitcase but an unbearable weight of grief.
What unfolded in Rome, Florence, Siena, and Assisi was no ordinary vacation. Amid candlelit chapels, ruined amphitheaters, and Renaissance masterpieces, Wyatt found herself pulled into an unexpected pilgrimage memoir of grief and healing. Each stop became a novena of mourning, as history, art, and sacred spaces whispered truths her broken heart needed to hear.
Wild and Holy is a grief memoir and Italy travel narrative that explores how beauty and suffering walk hand in hand. It is about the wild nature of grief—unpredictable, devastating, and raw—and its holy invitation to transformation. With honesty and reverence, Wyatt reveals how loss became her teacher, how guilt gave way to grace, and how even the ruins of life can hold the seeds of renewal.
Whether you are grieving, supporting others, or simply seeking meaning, this healing journey offers companionship and hope. It reminds us that love is never lost—and that joy can rise again from ashes.
"Karen’s words are a balm for the weary heart and a light for anyone navigating the landscape of loss and the human experience. This book will heal you in ways you didn’t know you needed."
— Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN
Founder, Doulagivers Institute Author of The International Bestselling book The Good A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life
"Wild and Holy describes Wyatt’s descent into grief and her surfacing to a new clarity of living fully with joy and loss. Honest and undefended, her entwined tours of Italy and her interior are soulful, sensual, and sacred."
— Ira Byock, MD
Palliative care physician and author of Dying Well and The Best Care Possible
On the morning she was scheduled to fly to Italy, Dr. Karen Wyatt received a phone call no physician ever wants to a thirteen-year-old boy under her care had died. Overwhelmed by guilt and haunted by the suicide of her father decades earlier, she boarded the plane anyway—dragging not just a suitcase but an unbearable weight of grief.
What unfolded in Rome, Florence, Siena, and Assisi was no ordinary vacation. Amid candlelit chapels, ruined amphitheaters, and Renaissance masterpieces, Wyatt found herself pulled into an unexpected pilgrimage memoir of grief and healing. Each stop became a novena of mourning, as history, art, and sacred spaces whispered truths her broken heart needed to hear.
Wild and Holy is a grief memoir and Italy travel narrative that explores how beauty and suffering walk hand in hand. It is about the wild nature of grief—unpredictable, devastating, and raw—and its holy invitation to transformation. With honesty and reverence, Wyatt reveals how loss became her teacher, how guilt gave way to grace, and how even the ruins of life can hold the seeds of renewal.
Whether you are grieving, supporting others, or simply seeking meaning, this healing journey offers companionship and hope. It reminds us that love is never lost—and that joy can rise again from ashes.
"Karen’s words are a balm for the weary heart and a light for anyone navigating the landscape of loss and the human experience. This book will heal you in ways you didn’t know you needed."
— Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN
Founder, Doulagivers Institute Author of The International Bestselling book The Good A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life
"Wild and Holy describes Wyatt’s descent into grief and her surfacing to a new clarity of living fully with joy and loss. Honest and undefended, her entwined tours of Italy and her interior are soulful, sensual, and sacred."
— Ira Byock, MD
Palliative care physician and author of Dying Well and The Best Care Possible
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2025
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