ABOUT THE BOOK
Keep Calm and Bollocks On is not a self-help manual. It will not optimise you, biohack you, or turn you into a serene woman in linen trousers who whispers affirmations at sunrise.
Instead, it is a sharp, funny, deeply honest exploration of modern womanhood, motherhood, burnout, rage, gut health, capitalism, intimacy, and the quiet rebellion of rest. Through stories of glitter explosions, postpartum fury, meditation retreats, WhatsApp confessions, and the occasional existential spiral, Liezl Stylo dismantles the myth that calm equals silence and that resilience means enduring everything politely.
Blending science, spirituality, and dry humour, this book is for women who feel intensely, think deeply, and are tired of pretending they’re fine.
It won’t fix you.
It will sit next to you on the kitchen floor and tell the truth.
ISBN: 978-1-0492-7058-6
Publication Date: July 2026
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liezl Stylo is a recovering lawyer, former yacht nomad, meditation enthusiast, and full-time human trying not to lose her mind over banana based incidents. Raised in Southern Africa with a healthy distrust of authority and a nervous system that notices everything, she now lives between Poland and France (because one country would be far too straightforward). After a fiscally irresponsible but spiritually necessary trip to India, she met her husband on a beach (as one does when one stops planning). Now a mother of two, Liezl writes the way she voice-notes her friends: long, honest, mildly unhinged, and backed by science she actually read. Her work blends nervous-system literacy, motherhood, capitalism- induced exhaustion, and the sacred art of having a cry in the pantry.
Indeed Books 
Where to even begin? This book echoes so many lived experiences—even personal traumas—that it is impossible to remain untouched by this sincere, factual, honest, and realistic account of life’s shifts and challenges surrounding such vulnerable moments as pregnancy and motherhood. Numerous topics are addressed here with thoughtful reflection, driven by a deep desire to understand and to figure out how to navigate it all. Sharing her own story and her search for answers and understanding helps readers feel heard, understood, and no longer isolated. It gives women their voice back where they are so often silenced—or silence themselves—while facing constant expectations, demands, and societal diktats, trying to carve out their own path through all the pressure. All of this is interwoven with glimpses of her own personal history, surfacing as the mother-child relationship unfolds.
My family doctor told me something so true when he saw me fighting for survival shortly after my delivery due to medical errors: specifically, the difficulty for modern women—who have their first child a bit later in life, after enjoying a period of freedom and the ability to fully invest themselves in their work and capabilities—to accept watching the bullet train speed by with part of the population on board, while finding themselves in a horse-drawn cart with dented wheels. But… today’s society doesn’t accept that rhythm and forces a far more violent pace upon us, at a heavy price for women, couples, and families.
Added to this is the treatment women sometimes receive, despite often having to be the pillar and carrying the heaviest load, even though we are no less capable. The occasions to feel unheard, unguided, unsupported, uncared for, and yet blamed are endless. Abuse can take many forms—including the kind we inflict upon ourselves without realizing it. Navigating between what is too much and what is not enough. Facing our own distress while helping our child grow, when so often it is the child who makes us grow.
Between pressure, isolation, loneliness, diktats, positive parenting, the urge to do well, the urge to do better, guiding specialized needs—yet so often, completely alone! The road to hell is paved with good intentions and can quickly slide into total exhaustion.
In the middle of all this, Liezl brings relief, understanding, kindness (especially toward oneself), a rare dose of truths that are too often silenced, comfort, and sheer reading pleasure. She moves seamlessly between the poetic and the philosophical, reflecting the path and journey each of us must take for our own growth.
She doesn’t carry the name “Stylo” for nothing. Thank you for sharing your weaknesses, your vulnerabilities, your reality, your reflections, and your strengths—and for allowing us to catch our breath and see things through a different lens, without imposing anything.
For my part, I hate the saying “children are nothing but bliss,” which gets thrown in our faces whenever we dare talk about our struggles, and which caused me so much guilt. Well, no, it isn’t just bliss! But I thank my son for surprising me, for challenging me, and for making me laugh so genuinely and innocently! Let us cherish the happy moments with our children whenever possible. Everything is fleeting. Just like the recent and moving eclipse. The next one won’t be until 2081; maybe my son will remember our time spent together, riding our bikes at Olivette beach.
On that note… “Keep Calm and Bollocks on”! And roll on the sequel!
From a French Mother, in Antibes, France.
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I have absolutely and I really appreciate the wisdom and common sense behind the words. Liezl’s word resonate so much with what I have always thought to be the truth: presence over performance. In my sextherapy practice that is exactly what I teach. I think it’s the solution to all kinds of sexual problems. Along with another concept she développe: vulnerability is true power. When we embrace vulnerability and presence we are truly human and able to navigate life with dignity and courage. Thanks for the read. I strongly recommend this book.
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