Melissa Leong: ‘Life is not easy. Life is ugly and hard and unpredictable’

‘We learn a lot about ourselves through being uncomfortable,’ says Melissa Leong, who has written a memoir at age 43. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian

At home in Melbourne’s inner north, Melissa Leong is feeling apprehensive. She’s preparing to spend the day talking about her new memoir, Guts, which reveals personal struggles she has never before spoken about publicly.

“This part – laying yourself bare, so to speak, multiple times a day – is challenging,” she says. “It’s mentally challenging. It’s emotionally challenging.”