Carol Staudacher

My cousin and his wife sent me this book after the recent death of my father, with a note that it had brought him "some comfort and solace" as he'd lost his mother just seven months before.

It did bring me comfort and solace. The book is divided into three sections, to correspond with three "broad and overlapping" (page 2) phases of grief: Retreating, Working Through, and Resolving. Each section has a number of quotes from others who have been through grief, with each quote followed by show more observations and an affirmation or meditation.

Although it's not recommended to use the book this way, I read it straight through, for the first reading. I found myself turning down the corners of pages where the topics spoke to me. Given that I started reading this a good six weeks after my father's death, it's not surprising that nearly all of my turned-down corners were in the Working Through section (which is also the longest section).

The book has an index to some of the emotions and feelings one might experience during the grief process, so you can go directly to the relevant pages. I expect to go back to this book often in the coming year, folding down new corners, and likely turning others back up.

© Amanda Pape - 2017

[I received this book as a gift from my cousin, and plan to hang on to it for a while.] show less

An extremely comprehensive book which demonstrates that each sufferer must acknowledge and endure the core of grief in order, ultimately, to emerge changed but renewed. It looks at grief in the raw and helps the bereaved person to face life with optimism. The author is a grief consultant and author in the fields of mental health and education.

This wasn't really my thing. I'm still giving it three stars, because I know to a lot of people it would be useful, it just wasn't for me. This consists of various statements, quotes, and meditations to help people deal with grief. It's sort of a loose format, and doesn't have to be read straight through from beginning to end. There will be a statement (something like "I feel so alone" for example), followed by a quote related to that statement, a couple paragraphs talking about the show more statement, and then a meditation you can use when you find yourself feeling like that. I didn't really get much out of it, but that's just me. Like I said, I just don't think it was my thing. It happens. show less

A Time to Grieve - Meditations for healing after the death of a loved one.A helpful guide for those who have been forced to face the death of someone they love. It is filled with wise insights, comfort and good counsel.
Harper, 1988, $14.00