Unfolding the Heart: One Woman's Quest for True Nature

For fans of memoirs by spiritual seekers and therapists, a contemporary memoir of healing, loss, and awakening set between East Coast retreats and everyday life.

At the age of ten, Rosanne Annoni had a vision of Christ calling her to become a nun--only to have her devout Catholic mother respond to this news with a slap across the face. Traversing the time between that childhood vision and a solitary winter in Pema Chodron's cabin at Gampo Abbey, Unfolding the Heart weaves together raw personal storytelling, spiritual discovery, and psychological insight. Through the highs of spiritual clarity and the depths of trauma, she searches relentlessly for her true path--and finds it not in renunciation, but in presence.

Spanning decades of grief, motherhood, cancer, and healing, this memoir explores the messy beauty of a life lived with courageous self-inquiry. Through the Diamond Approach, Buddhist practice, and deep personal relationships, Rosanne unearths wisdom from adversity and uncovers grace in the ordinary. For spiritual seekers, healing professionals, or anyone navigating loss, midlife change, or a desire for inner truth, Unfolding the Heart is a cathartic, hopeful story of letting go, leaning in, and discovering that spiritual path isn't somewhere far away--it's right here, within.

Author: Rosanne Annoni
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 09/29/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.41h x 5.51w x 0.81d
ISBN13: 9798896361527
BISAC Categories:
- Mind, Body, Spirit | Mindfulness & Meditation
- Mind, Body, Spirit | Inspiration & Personal Growth
- Biography & Autobiography | Religious

About the Author
Rosanne Annoni was a successful psychotherapist for thirty-five years in the Bay Area before becoming an ordained teacher of the Diamond Approach in 2000. She has taught students and mentored teachers in the United States, the UK, and the EU. In 2024, she was awarded an Emerging Writer Fellowship from Aspen Words. She is married, has one son, and lives with her husband and dog on Cape Cod.