A memoir about losing everything that was holding you up
It was 3am in a deserted car park, and George Meressa was done. Done with the fear, done with the grief, done pretending he had it all together. So he shouted three words at God: “I give up.” He did not know it yet, but giving up was the beginning.
The Loser Takes It All is George’s story, told honestly. It is about a kid who ran from every fight, a man who lost control of his body, and a business owner who found out he was losing £10,000 a month. And it is about the God who kept showing up anyway.
From Saudi palaces to a Hackney tower block
Before London, George lived in the palaces of Saudi Arabia, where his mother worked for royalty. One day the family was surrounded by marble and security. The next, they were in a tower block in one of London’s toughest neighbourhoods. He went from invisible and safe to visible and vulnerable overnight.
Growing up in Hackney, he learned the rules fast. Don’t show weakness. Don’t back down. Don’t let anyone see you’re afraid. But he was afraid all the time: of the streets, of the boys who wanted to fight him, of the one wrong turn on the walk home.
Success that could not fix what was broken
He spent years trying to save himself by being tough enough, smart enough and successful enough. He built a business, spoke on stages and made money. Something was still broken.
Then everything gave way at once. Ulcerative colitis hit so hard he was going to the toilet twenty-five times a day. War broke out in Tigray, the homeland of his family, and he could do nothing to stop it. His business started haemorrhaging money. He was losing at everything, and that is exactly where the story turns.
What readers take from it
Readers describe the book as honest, accessible and hard to put down. Several finished it in one sitting or one afternoon. The chapters move backwards and forwards in time to build the themes, rather than running in a straight line. One reader summed it up as a story about how his relationship with God kept pulling him through when life kept knocking him down.
- A true story of fear, illness, business pressure and faith
- An honest look at control, surrender and what actually matters
- Short, readable chapters you can finish in a weekend
Giving back
Chapter 9 talks about the war in Tigray, and camp at The Limpsfield Trust runs through the whole book. Both charities have a page of their own.
See the charities George supports →George also talks through the big questions behind the book in a free video series. Watch the videos.
