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15 Seconds of Brave
In this intimate and insightful book, Melissa Doyle shares the stories of some of the most resilient people she has ever met, gently drawing out their wisdom, empathy and heartfelt practical advice for anyone who’s going through a difficult time.
When the world stopped turning in 2020, award-winning journalist Melissa Doyle had already been thrown off course by life. She’d just turned fifty, her eldest child had left home to study overseas and her twenty-five-year-long career as a popular presenter at Channel 7 had come to an end.
While lockdowns and closed borders damaged livelihoods, relationships and the nation’s mental health, Melissa found herself reflecting on some of the survivors she’d met during her years reporting from the front lines of triumph and tragedy. Surely these people had clues on how to navigate grief and anxiety?
Revisiting these stories with such extraordinary people, Melissa was struck once more by their hard-won wisdom and their ability not just to survive but to find meaning in their experiences. Having faced the worst that life could throw at them, from childhood trauma to a freak accident to betrayal of the cruellest kind, they now explain how hope can prevail and we can all, as one remarkable little boy put it, find our ‘fifteen seconds of brave’.
When the world stopped turning in 2020, award-winning journalist Melissa Doyle had already been thrown off course by life. She’d just turned fifty, her eldest child had left home to study overseas and her twenty-five-year-long career as a popular presenter at Channel 7 had come to an end.
While lockdowns and closed borders damaged livelihoods, relationships and the nation’s mental health, Melissa found herself reflecting on some of the survivors she’d met during her years reporting from the front lines of triumph and tragedy. Surely these people had clues on how to navigate grief and anxiety?
Revisiting these stories with such extraordinary people, Melissa was struck once more by their hard-won wisdom and their ability not just to survive but to find meaning in their experiences. Having faced the worst that life could throw at them, from childhood trauma to a freak accident to betrayal of the cruellest kind, they now explain how hope can prevail and we can all, as one remarkable little boy put it, find our ‘fifteen seconds of brave’.
- GenresNonfictionAudiobook
195 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2022
26 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
December 13, 2022
A wonderful collection of stories from some incredible people that Melissa Doyle was fortunate enough to meet and interview. This is a fabulous and very memorable book and one in which I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone who is looking for their next book to read.
March 2, 2023
Who knew Melissa Doyle was such a lovely writer? I was blown away by the depth of these stories and the gentle yet powerful way Mel was able to explore them for everyone's benefit. I believe this book should be required reading in schools.
December 31, 2022
A very touching collection of stories of incredible, ordinary people. I cried multiple times while reading this book, it was heartfelt and raw at times, but always somehow positive.
I’m sure it will stick with me moving forward.
If you enjoyed Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales, you’re sure to enjoy this one.
I’m sure it will stick with me moving forward.
If you enjoyed Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales, you’re sure to enjoy this one.
December 28, 2022
Perhaps I started reading this at the wrong time, with the wrong frame of mind, but the book wasn't just 'doing it' for me. I was seeing more the negative aspects of stories themselves and not what they taught or explained. My reaction was Any Ordinary Day covered this better. So I put the book aside.
Then the 2am wake up occurred this morning, and rather than continue to toss and turn I picked up the book to read the last chapter. It was this story which started to solidify the themes in the book. It also explained the book title. Anyone can handle 15 seconds of pain - the needle slipping under the skin, the momentary pause while the doctor looks up the test results, the pain of a cut until adequately covered.
While the title of the book is about pain, the theme of the book is about hope and positivity. It just took a bit to find it.
Then the 2am wake up occurred this morning, and rather than continue to toss and turn I picked up the book to read the last chapter. It was this story which started to solidify the themes in the book. It also explained the book title. Anyone can handle 15 seconds of pain - the needle slipping under the skin, the momentary pause while the doctor looks up the test results, the pain of a cut until adequately covered.
While the title of the book is about pain, the theme of the book is about hope and positivity. It just took a bit to find it.
November 28, 2022
Every now and then you read a book that you know is just going to stick with you for a long time. I felt every emotion under the sun within these pages. Such a special and important book
June 15, 2023
True stories of bravery. No, not rescuing someone from a burning house, or saving someone from a rip current. This brand of bravery comes from somewhere deep within. It finds the love and strength to forgive the cruelest blow. To love the one that war has devastated and to live with grief as you know your child will not live to be an adult. Yet you rejoice in every milestone that love allows.
A totally reality check of a read.
A totally reality check of a read.
December 9, 2022
(Audiobook) Melissa Doyle is a great story teller. This book focuses on 6 stories of individual’s life’s and how they have built resistance in moving forward. If you are looking for a bit of inspiration in your own life, then maybe this book will give you some, when you see that other lives have been worse than yours.
January 16, 2023
Wow! there are some wonderful people out there, with some excellent life lessons for us to learn. This book is not about doom and gloom, it is about uplifting inspirational ways for the rest of us to learn how to deal with set-backs. this book should be added to the reading list for schools.
January 17, 2025
A very emotional and heartbreaking collection of true stories, written by well-known journalist, Melissa Doyle. The people and their families featured in this book made me put my own life into perspective. Be prepared to have the tissues handy while reading Fifteen Seconds of Brave!!
January 25, 2024
Heart wrenching account of tragedies that families have endured with amazing positivity. An inspiring read of people’s resilience
June 3, 2023
15 seconds of brave tells the stories of 8 people/families who have overcome a challenge or tragedy in their lives. Each chapter gives the background of what occurred and how they got through it.
The real issue I have is that a couple of the stories, in my opinion, didn’t actually tell the story of a survivor. For example, one chapter follows the partner of a soldier who lost his legs after stepping on an IED while on active duty in Afghanistan. The “true” survivor, in my opinion, is the soldier. I’m not saying that being his partner is without challenges but I feel the use of the word “survivor” trivialises it’s meaning in those circumstances.
It’s a good book to help one count their blessings but definitely not a favourite of mine.
The real issue I have is that a couple of the stories, in my opinion, didn’t actually tell the story of a survivor. For example, one chapter follows the partner of a soldier who lost his legs after stepping on an IED while on active duty in Afghanistan. The “true” survivor, in my opinion, is the soldier. I’m not saying that being his partner is without challenges but I feel the use of the word “survivor” trivialises it’s meaning in those circumstances.
It’s a good book to help one count their blessings but definitely not a favourite of mine.
December 20, 2022
Our Review…
Filled with incredible stories of love, resilience, and hope, ’15 Seconds of Brave’ by Melissa Doyle is honestly the most breathtaking book.
In her twenty-five year long career as a popular television presenter for Channel 7, Melissa Doyle was often struck by the stories of ordinary people experiencing extraordinary circumstances. It is out of this experience, while feeling off kilter during the long pandemic and many personal life changes that the book came to life.
Revisiting each one of these people, interviewing them and hearing their stories of the unimaginable and how they survived it, makes for a remarkable read.
It is real, raw, and introspective. So brilliantly written, it reads like you are right in the room listening in a real time. Keep the tissues beside you for this one, you won’t be able get through it without shedding a tear.
This would make an excellent Christmas gift, instead of the tin of chocolates.
Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books
Filled with incredible stories of love, resilience, and hope, ’15 Seconds of Brave’ by Melissa Doyle is honestly the most breathtaking book.
In her twenty-five year long career as a popular television presenter for Channel 7, Melissa Doyle was often struck by the stories of ordinary people experiencing extraordinary circumstances. It is out of this experience, while feeling off kilter during the long pandemic and many personal life changes that the book came to life.
Revisiting each one of these people, interviewing them and hearing their stories of the unimaginable and how they survived it, makes for a remarkable read.
It is real, raw, and introspective. So brilliantly written, it reads like you are right in the room listening in a real time. Keep the tissues beside you for this one, you won’t be able get through it without shedding a tear.
This would make an excellent Christmas gift, instead of the tin of chocolates.
Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books
February 26, 2023
I feel like I’ve just sat down with eight incredible people for coffee and got to chat about being brave. What a gift to have given the world. I think this is a great read when you are feeling upbeat, but I also think it would make for great reading if you were feeling low. Thank you so much for your stories Tonya, Grace, Juli, Aurelio, Rachel, Chloe, Danny and Kate. And thank you so much Melissa Doyle for the opportunity to sit and chat with these brave souls
September 29, 2023
Lacks depth or nuance for such dark and sensitive topics. Doesn’t seem to share any “wisdom from survivors” just lays their pain out to bare seemingly for entertainment. Maybe I’m missing something as the other readers seem to think it’s great. Never found what the title related to. Didn’t think it was particularly well written or edited either. Got a third of the way through and gave up.
November 11, 2022
This book seems to be a bit of a rip off of Leigh Sales book titled Any Ordinary Day which i thought was more well written.
I wasn’t a fan of the title until it had me in tears on the last pages. So it gets an extra star.
Some pretty amazing and tragic stories.
I wasn’t a fan of the title until it had me in tears on the last pages. So it gets an extra star.
Some pretty amazing and tragic stories.
March 4, 2023
Please read this if you ever feel sorry for yourself or hard done by, unbelievable what some people have to deal with and still manage to stay so hopeful.
June 13, 2023
I read Any Ordinary Day by Australian journalist Leigh Sales not long after it was published (October 2018), and found the stories contained in that book inspirational. As in, any ordinary day something extraordinary (and not necessarily in a good way) could happen to you, and you had to deal with it, somehow or other. This is more of the same, written during Covid lockdown by another Australian journalist Melissa Doyle, who's also well known for her previous TV anchor job.
The stories are amazing, and unlike Any Ordinary Day, where I was familiar with some of the stories from the news, I only knew one in this book, in the chapter called Danny. Danny and his wife Leila sent some of their children and their cousins out for icecream one day, and a young driver high on drugs and alcohol, three times over the legal limit, ploughed into them and instantly killed three of Danny and Leila's children and a cousin, and badly wounded some of the others. The amazing aftermath was the public forgiveness Danny and Leila gave to that driver, even as they grieved mightily. I think all of Sydney grieved with them, and marvelled at their tremendous courage and faith.
The title of the book comes from the last chapter, Kay, when her son Noah - who has made his teens against all odds - tells how he copes with challenges (like having a needle, which he hates) by 'counting to fifteen, by which time it would usually be over'. And if it takes longer than that, he'll 'choose to be brave again'...
Oh, my heart.
The stories are amazing, and unlike Any Ordinary Day, where I was familiar with some of the stories from the news, I only knew one in this book, in the chapter called Danny. Danny and his wife Leila sent some of their children and their cousins out for icecream one day, and a young driver high on drugs and alcohol, three times over the legal limit, ploughed into them and instantly killed three of Danny and Leila's children and a cousin, and badly wounded some of the others. The amazing aftermath was the public forgiveness Danny and Leila gave to that driver, even as they grieved mightily. I think all of Sydney grieved with them, and marvelled at their tremendous courage and faith.
The title of the book comes from the last chapter, Kay, when her son Noah - who has made his teens against all odds - tells how he copes with challenges (like having a needle, which he hates) by 'counting to fifteen, by which time it would usually be over'. And if it takes longer than that, he'll 'choose to be brave again'...
Oh, my heart.
October 13, 2022
I received an arc of this book.
Great collection of stories of people who have needed to be brave for some reason or another. They have shown courage when most people would fall. Melissa’s kindness and personal connections comes through in her telling of these stories.
The book is well written and gives you a sense of hope for the future of our world if we can have more people such as these in it. Their words had a healing effect on me through my grief.
This book is great for people who loved Leigh Sales, Any Ordinary Day. For people who are grieving or going through some times. It is also for those who like to read about the courage of others to help them learn to get through using their ‘15 seconds of brave.’
Great collection of stories of people who have needed to be brave for some reason or another. They have shown courage when most people would fall. Melissa’s kindness and personal connections comes through in her telling of these stories.
The book is well written and gives you a sense of hope for the future of our world if we can have more people such as these in it. Their words had a healing effect on me through my grief.
This book is great for people who loved Leigh Sales, Any Ordinary Day. For people who are grieving or going through some times. It is also for those who like to read about the courage of others to help them learn to get through using their ‘15 seconds of brave.’
September 27, 2024
This book was not my usual style and was actually gifted to me as an audio book. I'm so glad I read this right away. The people Melissa has written about are incredible. Every story had my heart aching, none more than Danny's, though. Each story hit close to home in some way or another, but Danny's hit the hardest.
Melissa wrote their stories beautifully. These are normally tales where my heart would ache. But by the end of each chapter, I felt nothing but admiration.
If you're in need of inspiration and perspective, I highly recommend this book. If you have the chance to listen to the audio book, you will not be disappointed. Melissa reads with so much emotion that it's impossible to not engage with her stories.
Melissa wrote their stories beautifully. These are normally tales where my heart would ache. But by the end of each chapter, I felt nothing but admiration.
If you're in need of inspiration and perspective, I highly recommend this book. If you have the chance to listen to the audio book, you will not be disappointed. Melissa reads with so much emotion that it's impossible to not engage with her stories.
February 15, 2023
This is an amazing book to read or listen to. It is so inspirational, no matter whether you are going through a hardship or not. It is always good to be reminded that there are and will always be someone going through worse than you. It gives you the strength to face your own problems/issues and no matter what life throws at you, you are strong enough to get through it.
This is a book everyone should read. I hope that there more stories like this to come, maybe even a TV series to help inspire everyone to keep keeping on.
This is a book everyone should read. I hope that there more stories like this to come, maybe even a TV series to help inspire everyone to keep keeping on.
June 26, 2023
I laughed some and cried a lot.
Thank you Melissa for sharing these stories so beautifully with tenderness and understanding and real compassion too
I think the importance of Danny’s story of forgiveness was the most impacting to me. When it could have been easier to become bitter and twisted he and his wife and family chose forgiveness and displayed this for their children and showed how doing this can be so life changing
And thank you too little Noah for sharing his 15 seconds of brave! I’ll never forget that.
Thank you Melissa for sharing these stories so beautifully with tenderness and understanding and real compassion too
I think the importance of Danny’s story of forgiveness was the most impacting to me. When it could have been easier to become bitter and twisted he and his wife and family chose forgiveness and displayed this for their children and showed how doing this can be so life changing
And thank you too little Noah for sharing his 15 seconds of brave! I’ll never forget that.
June 24, 2025
2.75
A quick read with potential, but lacking emotional depth.
The book shares some genuinely interesting stories, many of which had the potential to be explored more deeply. It felt like the author may have been limited—either by access, research constraints, or editorial choices—because each narrative remained fairly surface-level and never really pulled me in emotionally.
The first story was especially striking—sad and almost unbelievable. I even looked it up afterward, which says something. But as the book went on, even though the stories were about people overcoming real hardship, I found myself just… not connecting. It didn’t evoke much feeling, which was disappointing given the subject matter.
That said, it’s a very quick read and could be the perfect pick for an airport or a short flight—engaging enough to keep your attention, but not something you’ll dwell on for long afterward.
A quick read with potential, but lacking emotional depth.
The book shares some genuinely interesting stories, many of which had the potential to be explored more deeply. It felt like the author may have been limited—either by access, research constraints, or editorial choices—because each narrative remained fairly surface-level and never really pulled me in emotionally.
The first story was especially striking—sad and almost unbelievable. I even looked it up afterward, which says something. But as the book went on, even though the stories were about people overcoming real hardship, I found myself just… not connecting. It didn’t evoke much feeling, which was disappointing given the subject matter.
That said, it’s a very quick read and could be the perfect pick for an airport or a short flight—engaging enough to keep your attention, but not something you’ll dwell on for long afterward.
October 28, 2023
What a totally inspiring book this was.
I heard Melissa speak at my local library just after she released this book and she was amazing. The stories she shared with us were impactful and really interesting.
I’m so glad I read about the brave people in this book, sometimes through tears. I cannot imagine how some of them get out of bed each morning.
There were lots of life lessons in this book. Thank you for taking the time to write this book Melissa.
I heard Melissa speak at my local library just after she released this book and she was amazing. The stories she shared with us were impactful and really interesting.
I’m so glad I read about the brave people in this book, sometimes through tears. I cannot imagine how some of them get out of bed each morning.
There were lots of life lessons in this book. Thank you for taking the time to write this book Melissa.
November 29, 2025
Loved the title! As a woman and a mother, these stories resonated strongly with me, and yes, the tears that were brought forth were tears of admiration for the journeys these people have been confronted with in their lives.
This was a Book Club read and it will be a tearful discussion I am sure for our Xmas windup meet.
This was a Book Club read and it will be a tearful discussion I am sure for our Xmas windup meet.
March 18, 2023
There are certain lessons that can only be found in deep suffering. This book tells the stories of unsuspecting heroes who have faced insurmountable challenges and emerged with gems that we can all benefit from. It is very inspiring, but at the same time it is a very humbling read.
May 29, 2023
An easy read in terms of short chapters dedicated to individual people. But a hard read in terms of hearing what people have endured. When reading something like this it puts life in perspective for you. And that’s why I gave it a 4. My life is blessed in comparison.
June 22, 2023
A beautiful book of heartbreaking, challenging and inspiring stories. It can be so hard to sit in the heaviness of stories like these, but they are so important and offer many lessons for each of us.
July 5, 2023
A great collection of short stories. The resilience that everyone has throughout theses stories was amazing. There’s always someone worse off than you and we should live every day as if it was our last.
⭐️I give this book 3.5⭐️
⭐️I give this book 3.5⭐️
August 2, 2023
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author. The strength of the human spirit in the most awful and unfortunate situations is amazing and inspiring. Everyday people sharing their strength, wisdom and grace - beautifully read by Melissa Doyle. Have the tissues handy!
August 19, 2023
This book is fine but has a surprising lack of depth for interviews that took place over months. It retells extremely traumatic stories and tacks cliche quotes about living every day to the fullest on the end. Not terrible just not extraordinary either.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews