When Ute Reusch-Wilson's was three years old, she and her family returned to their home in Essen, Germany, after and eleven-week trek as refugees in shattered, war-torn Germany. Stunned to see the house still standing, they began to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of war.

​

An unexpected romance with a Canadian Air Force pilot and a debilitating injury pulled her out of her artistic world and into a new life shaped by her husband's military commitments, and their shared love of sailing and adventure. When he died at a tragically young age due to cancer, Ute rewrote the rules of her life, turning it into a globe-spanning mosaic of life, friendship, and freedom, a way of life that has continued well past the age when most people stop rewriting their story. 

​

Equal parts lyrical, candid, and funny, A Life Without a Map is a memoir about resilience, adventure, and the stubborn courage required to keep moving when the road one expected to take keeps changing.