Tune in to Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM this Saturday at 2pm, when I’ll be talking to the wonderful Amelia McCloskey.

Amelia is a successful businesswoman and winner of a Business Prestige award. She has more than fifteen years developing and managing artists, vocal coaching, and licensing music for film/TV, and is an established name in the music industry. However, she soon discovered that the approach she used in business — Keep trying until you succeed, if you fail, try again and you’ll see results — doesn’t work when it comes to having a baby. She suffered two ectopic pregnancies (one nearly ending her life after rupturing), losing her fallopian tubes in the process, two miscarriages and three rounds of IVF in the UK and Europe.

She began documenting her harrowing journey, as a form of therapy, but quickly realised that she had the means to help others gain strength and healing from her experiences. Her book Secret Fertility Club is out later this month from Sparsile Books, and she previously recorded the Strength in Others’ Stories podcast. Amelia’s writing is not only a deeply personal account of the challenges of infertility, it is also astonishingly hopeful. Most of all she wants her story to help others gain strength and healing from sharing her experiences. Amelia has private social media groups, also called Secret Fertility Club, in which other people can also share their personal stories.

I’ll be talking to Amelia about Secret Fertility Club and the experiences that inspired its publication on Saturday’s show. And, of course, she’ll be sharing her selections for this week’s Apocalypse Books.

Catch the show on Saturday at 2pm on 106.6FM (in the North Manchester area) or listen online (if you’re further afield).