Grief & Loss

One woman's journey to overcome grief by delving into an overlooked wonder of nature. As the world of mushrooms opened up to me I began to see that the path back to life was easier than I had thought. It was simply a matter of gathering delights that flash and sparkle. All I had to do was follow the mushroom...

Aged nine, Joss came home from school to discover her father's suicide. She's never gotten over it. This is the true story of Joss, 13, who is angry and out of control. At the age of nine, Joss finds her father’s dead body. He has committed suicide. Then her mother remarries, and Joss bitterly resents her step-father, who abuses her...

In an evocative memoir, Catherine Coldstream describes life as a contemplative nun in the 1990s, and the dramatic events which led to her flight from the monastery on the brink of the Millennium. Evocative - Sarah Perry Immersive - Katherine May Profoundly moving - Mark Haddon Discover Catherine Coldstream's compelling account of life as a nun in the 1990s, and...

FROM THE AUTHOR OF RAGE BECOMES HER, A POWERFUL ARGUMENT FOR COMMUNAL RESILIENCE BASED ON IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE HISTORY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, POLITICS, AND PERSONAL NARRATIVES BEHIND HOW WE THINK ABOUT CRISIS AND RESPOND TO TRAUMA In this thought-provoking exploration, writer and activist Soraya Chemaly challenges our common, most dearly held myths of resilience and urges us to shift...

When her father becomes gravely ill on holiday in Budapest, Alexandra Fuller rushes to join her mother at his bedside, where they see out his last days together and then carry his ashes back to their farm in Zambia. A master of time and memory, Fuller moves seamlessly between the days and months following her father's death. She contends with...

Shortlisted for the ABIA Nonfiction Book of the Year 'A tender, touching and at times bloody funny meditation on life. And death. And how to live.' David Wenham 'For as long as I can remember, there has always been just the three of us. Three sisters. Only a year between each. Inseparable. It's been like that for almost 50 years...

Unforgettable . . . a hilarious, poignant and impassioned plea to revolutionise our attitudes to death Gavin Francis, Guardian From her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, twenty-three-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about, she started to wonder about the lives...

New York Times Bestseller A poignant love letter to Bloom's husband and a passionate outpouring of grief, In Love reaffirms the power and value of human relationships. In January 2020, Amy Bloom travelled with her husband Brian to Switzerland, where he was helped by Dignitas to end his life while Amy sat with him and held his hand. Brian was...

Becoming a Matriarch by Helen Knott is a multiweek No. 1 bestseller in the author's native Canada. Intimate and lyrical, this book offers real-life experiences for readers who love stories that inspire and heal. If you enjoy works by authors such as Gabor Maté, Michelle Obama, Glennon Doyle, or Robin Wall Kimmerer, you will find much to admire in Knott's...

An honest look at grief and fears, faith and hope. Combining personal narrative, sound theology, and beautiful writing, this is a book for anyone who has loved and lost. On November 3, 2020, Tim and Aileen Challies received the shocking news that their son Nick had died. A twenty-year-old student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, he...

A comprehensive sociological look at the laws, pop culture, medicine, and history surrounding female grief and pregnancy loss, how it came to be so stigmatized, and what a system of more compassionate care could look like, from Pulitzer Prize finalist and White House correspondent Colleen Long and freelance journalist Rebecca Little. A must-read investigation of reproductive health under fire in...

The bestselling and ABIA Award shortlisted memoir from Osher Günsberg, one of Australia’s most loved celebrities, about life, love, and living with mental illness—powerful, dark, funny, and heart-wrenching. It's hard to remember a time when Osher Günsberg (or Andrew G as he was then) wasn't on TV—he's just always been there, looking at ease in the spotlight, beaming a big...

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. In this searing memoir, Congressman Jamie Raskin tells the story of the forty-five days at the start of 2021 that permanently changed his life—and his family’s—as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation’s Capitol, and led the impeachment effort to hold President Trump...

‘A delicious story that wraps itself around your heart’ Evie Woods, bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop It’s been three years, two weeks and one day since Kate Shaw’s life changed forever. Three years, two weeks and one day that Kate has been angry – with herself and life. But today is different. Different because Kate has finally taken the...

NPR SciFri Book Club Pick Next Big Idea Club's "Top 21 Psychology Books of 2022" Behavioral Scientist Notable Books of 2022 A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning. In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, gives...

Updated for its 20th anniversary, this classic guide that has helped so many people get through loss now has even more to offer. The new material in this edition includes specific guidelines that will show readers how to choose which grief or loss they should work on first. In addition, losses that were not addressed in the earlier editions will...

The world's foremost expert on grief and co-author with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the iconic On Grief and Grieving explores the search for meaning in the face of life-altering grief and offers a vital guide to healing. 'A brilliant, caring, practical guide to help us understand grief' - Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. 'Finding Meaning is Kessler's poignant response to society's insensitivity,...

New York Times Bestseller An intimate and evocative memoir of one woman’s experience with the universality of grief and the redemptive power of love as she endures her husband’s 84-day battle with lung cancer. When Steph Catudal met her husband Rivs, she thought that the love, stability, and warmth she shared with him had finally dispelled her pent-up anger and grief...

The debut collection from award-winning Somali British poet Warsan Shire, celebrated collaborator on Beyoncé's Lemonade and Black Is King. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 FELIX DENNIS PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTION AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 'Warsan Shire is an extraordinarily gifted poet whose profoundly moving poems so powerfully give voice to the unspoken.' — Bernardine Evaristo 'Vital, moving and...

When foster carer, Cathy Glass, is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day-old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort, as it's vital her extended family don't know where she is....

Lonely Planet's Guide to Death, Grief and Rebirth offers an eye-opening tour of the varied ways cultures grapple with what lies beyond. Featuring over 30 customs, this book explores how different cultures and communities around the world approach death, grief, and rebirth, providing invaluable lessons we can all learn from them. With first-person narratives, locals share the stories of their...

The Bleeding Tree is a poignant memoir of one woman's journey through grief, guided by nature, ritual, and folk tales. It was the last of the ebbing days, the brink of the new season. It was the murky hours, the clove between sunset and sunrise. It was a tall tree with deep roots, and it had been bleeding for a...

As I bumped across the water in a leaky tin dinghy I didn't know that the journey had begun. That the pale yellow house with a corridor of columns and long verandah on the high, rough hill would hold the key to it all... At 44 Susan Duncan appeared to have it all. Editor of two of Australia's top selling...

Madeleine is Kate McCann's personal account of the disappearance and continuing search for her daughter, revised and updated for this edition. 'The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts... My reason for writing it is simple - to give an account of the truth... Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal,...

A trail-blazing work of feminist nature writing, which rediscovers and re-imagines how women encounter the natural world. Heartfelt, passionate, infuriating and often devastating, this book will inspire you to fight for your right to tread your own path — CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ, author of Invisible Women When Rachel loses five family members in five months, grief magnifies other absences. Running...

Cory Taylor wrote this remarkable book in the space of a few weeks before her death from cancer in July 2016. In a tremendous creative surge, as her body weakened, she described the experience of knowing she would soon die. Her powerful and beautifully written book is a clear-eyed account of the tangle of her feelings, her reflections on her...

At 44, Tom Jokinen quit a good government job to work at a family-run funeral home and crematorium as a trainee undertaker. This drastic vocational change gave him an amazing opportunity to explore, first-hand, our culture's relationship with the dead, dying, and left behind. In a modern society where religion has lost its grip on rituals of transition, the funeral...

In this #3 New York Times bestselling memoir, TikTok star and hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos demystifies death through inspiring stories about her patients. What can people at the end of their lives teach us about living well today? In this heart-warming memoir of wisdom, redemption, and even joy, Hadley Vlahos beautifully shares life lessons and stories from being a palliative...

The neuroscientist and best-selling author of The Organized Mind explains what happens to our brains from womb to tomb. We have long been encouraged to think of old age as synonymous with a decline in skills. Yet recent studies show that our decision-making improves as we age, and our happiness levels peak in our eighties. What really happens to our...

A year-long journey by the renowned psychiatrist and his writer wife after her fatal diagnosis, as they reflect on how to love and live without regret. Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counselling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author...

The son of a Native American anthropologist and a Swiss paleontologist and raised on a Pueblo Indian reservation in New Mexico, author and artist Martin Prechtel is positioned to be a unique cultural interpreter. Trained as a Tzujutil Maya shaman in Guatemala in the 1970s, Prechtel returned to the West in the 1980s to teach workshops and lead groups to...

Fierce Elegy by Peter Gizzi is a powerful new collection that delves into the transformative power of elegy, exploring themes of lament and love. This poignant work arose in the wake of Gizzi’s diagnosis with a very rare blood disease in March 2021. Composed with both deliberation and unprecedented speed, the book navigates the poet’s reflections on his own impending...

Mortals by Rachel Menzies and Ross Menzies is a ground-breaking book that uncovers how our fear of death is the hidden driver of most of humankind's endeavours. 'Spoiler alert: if you read this book, you will die. But, as well as being fascinating, this book can also help you die a better death, and live a better life.' – JULIAN...

For two thousand years, cadavers – some willingly, some unwittingly – have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They’ve tested France’s first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure,...

In Walking Each Other Home, Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush invite readers on an intimate exploration of life and death, interweaving their personal experiences with timeless spiritual wisdom. Rather than providing conventional theories about the end of life, this book eloquently portrays death as a journey of love, curiosity, and ultimate transformation. Together, these two spiritual luminaries delve deeply into...

Forensic pathologist and bestselling author of Unnatural Causes, Dr Richard Shepherd, brings his unparalleled honesty and insight to a new book about life and death. Through 24 intriguing, never-before-told cases, Britain's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd, takes us on a journey through life in death. From old to young, murder to misadventure, and from illness to accidental death, each...

From the author of the megaselling phenomenon QUIET, the no. 1 NYT bestseller on how to turn sorrow into beauty - and even joy. Whether you long for the partner who broke up with you, or the one you dream of meeting; whether you hunger for the happy childhood you'll never have, or for the divine; whether you yearn for...

The Worm at the Core by Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski is a compelling exploration of the hidden motives that shape human behaviour. This profound book delves into the essential, yet often unacknowledged, influence of death anxiety. The authors argue that the fear of death is a primary motivating force behind a wide range of human activities, from...

It was a warm October day when his life splintered down the middle. She was gone in a flash. Everything changed forever. For three months, in shock at this horror, he maintained a regime of late-night walks across the city. There came a time when he had walked enough, and so he stopped. Bring Back Yesterday is a love story,...

Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2025 ‘The best book I have read this year’ – David Nicholls ‘Beautiful’ – Douglas Stuart ‘Extraordinary’ – Sarah Moss ‘A formidable testament to a mother’s love’ – Sara Collins ‘There is no good way to say this,’ Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book. ‘There is no good way...

The bestselling and unforgettable memoir about fertility, family, grief and love - now with a bonus chapter - from the creator of Darling, Shine! "I'm not going to tell you that everything happens for a reason. Those words are cold comfort in any traumatic moment. This is what I will say, though: I see you. I hear you. I am...

’Lovely, funny and moving. Tony has only gone and given us the best kind of book about a dog’ – Miranda Hart ‘I loved this book. My best dog was named Stan, too. Parsons is right – it's a love story' – Lee Child 'It had me laughing and crying in equal measure. Tony magnificently captures the incredibly special bond...

Unscripted - A Memoir by Karen Johnson is the poignant story of Karen and Tony Johnson, childhood sweethearts who met before they were even teenagers. They grew up in rural New Zealand, married young, and together established a family and farming business. Their journey takes a heart-wrenching turn when, twenty-nine years into their marriage, Tony is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease...

AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A GUARDIAN BEST MEMOIR OF 2023 A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023 John Niven's little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. After years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of...

A compassionate resource for friends, parents, relatives, teachers, volunteers, and caregivers, this series offers suggestions to help the grieving cope with the loss of a loved one. Often people do not know what to say, or what not to say, to someone they know who is mourning; this series teaches that the most important thing a person can do is...

Together with Billy, help your child navigate their way through the loss of a loved one through sharing memories, stories and pictures. Billy's Family Bereavement is a gentle illustrated story that helps children understand the death of a loved one through simple language and relatable examples from nature. Designed to encourage conversations about grief, loss, feelings and remembrance, it provides...

"An inspiring tale, brimming with can-do and positivity." - Tristan Gooley, author of The Natural Navigator "A tender, human adventure that reveals what can unfold when you honour a promise and keep paddling forwards." - Alastair Humphreys, author of Microadventures From the bestselling author of Moderate Becoming Good Later comes the hopeful, honest, and humorous story of one woman's attempt...

Not only practical, it's also somehow a great meditation on death. Telling me all sorts of practical stuff in a way I can bear to read. More than bear, I loved it. - PHILIPPA PERRY A vitally important book for anyone who thinks they might die at some point. Do not buy this book if you are already dead. It's...

A tale of love, loss and laughter, this life-affirming memoir describes one woman's determination to survive unbearable grief - and get back into running - one step at a time. Lisa didn't think anything could be more devastating than the death of her beloved husband Graham. But then she lost her sister and father too - all in the space...

This book unravels the many different experiences, meanings and realities of natural burial. Twenty years after the first natural burial ground opened, there is an opportunity to reflect on how a concept for a very different approach to caring for our dead has become a reality: new providers, new landscapes and a hybrid of new and traditional rituals. In this...

This book unravels the many different experiences, meanings, and realities of natural burial. Twenty years after the first natural burial ground opened, there is an opportunity to reflect on how a concept for a very different approach to caring for our dead has become a reality: new providers, new landscapes, and a hybrid of new and traditional rituals. In this...

Intellectually and visually stimulating, this important landmark book looks at the religious, political, social and artistic significance of the Imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It traces the evolutionary development of the most elaborately beautiful imperial tombs to examine fundamental issues on death and the afterlife in one of the world's most sophisticated civilizations. Selected tombs are presented...

This book examines various ways of experiencing loss of any kind. The author draws examples from her experience as a psychotherapist and counsellor, offering readers the opportunity to learn about different ways of grieving. It helps readers see that they are not alone in their grief. The language is free of jargon and tackles this difficult subject with the dignity...

Death is a constant in every society, but each of the world's cultures views the end of life differently. Death and Dying examines beliefs about dying, burial, and life after death held by peoples of wide-ranging societies.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)? How does AI affect death matters and the digital beyond? How are death and dying handled in our digital age? AI for Death and Dying covers a broad range of literature, research, and challenges around this topic. It explores ethical memorisation, digital legacies and bereavement, post-death avatars and AI, and the digital beyond. It also...

'Thoughtful, beautiful, incredibly necessary. People need to read this book, especially if they feel a resistance to. I wish everyone would.' Sofie Hagen ‘Uncompromising, anguished, combative: culture wars have victims, and this is an agonising story told with honesty and passion.’ Richard Beard 'An intimate, beautifully told memoir' Elinor Cleghorn When my third child was born, I was told I...

We have lost the ability to deal with death. Most of our friends and beloved relations will die in a busy hospital in the care of strangers, doctors and nurses they have known at best for a couple of weeks. They may not even know they are dying, victims of the kindly lie that there is still hope. They are...

In the face of personal and global suffering, is it possible to live with hope rather than despair? Join psychiatrist, speaker, and award-winning author Curt Thompson as he shows us how God transforms our grief into a lasting peace that surpasses all understanding. Suffering is a defining reality of life. Yet, so many of us are so focused on avoiding...

A profound and fascinating exploration of death and the afterlife! Christian and other religious beliefs, rituals from around the world, quests for immortality, scientists' conclusions, ghosts, and more! What happens when we die? Many view it as a mystery, but there are tantalizing clues to be found in the Bible and other religious scriptures, scientific findings, historical writings, literature, reports...

Nita is standing in a graveyard. The early morning fog is keeping the sun at bay, and a light mist is falling upon her. She is, once again, mourning for a loss. Only two months ago, she was standing before this permanent home, made of concrete, for Betty and Micky. Micky and Betty were travelling to their camp in Mississippi....

Grief, Loss and How to Cope by Christopher Spriggs and Jess Smallwood offers a calm and approachable guide to coping with feelings of grief and loss, presenting simple advice and comforting words. Grief is something we will all face at some point in our lives. It can affect us at many stages — after the loss of a loved one,...

Now including new material and a chapter-by-chapter workbook journal for guided exploration and meditation, this updated edition of Goodbye Hello from paranormal investigator and host of Kindred Spirits, Adam Berry, blends supernatural and psychological research to explore the paranormal and afterlife to try and help answer big questions about the end. Death affects us all—not just at the end of...

Beyond Goodbye guides you through your darkest days of suffering and offers hope for your future. Grief can leave us feeling alone and lost in the world, not knowing where to turn for help. And yet grief is one of the few certainties in life—it is impossible to experience love without suffering loss. Leading grief expert Zoë Clark-Coates examines the...

Animal Death is a complex, uncomfortable, depressing, motivating, and sensitive topic. For those scholars participating in human-animal studies, it is accompanied by the concept of 'life,' the ground upon which their studies commence, whether those studies are historical, archaeological, social, philosophical, or cultural. It is a tough subject to face, but as this volume demonstrates, one at the heart of...

A mesmerizing trip across America to investigate the changing face of death in contemporary life Death in the United States is undergoing a quiet revolution. You can have your body frozen, dissected, composted, dissolved, or tanned. Your family can incorporate your remains into jewellery, shotgun shells, paperweights, and artwork. Cremations have more than doubled, and DIY home funerals and green...

The meaning of our concern for mortal remains—from antiquity through the twentieth century. The Greek philosopher Diogenes said that when he died his body should be tossed over the city walls for beasts to scavenge. Why should he or anyone else care what became of his corpse? In The Work of the Dead, acclaimed cultural historian Thomas Laqueur examines why...

When the pain caused by difficult or unexpected life-changing experiences goes unexpressed and unreleased, it can unravel the fabric of your life. Where talk therapy fails to remedy the situation, expressive art proves successful. Breakthrough split-brain research tells us that imagery is our primary form of communication. Using an image to express a painful emotion allows us to see it...

"In the city where I was born there is a collective of women taking apart donated wedding dresses. Seam ripping and taking off lace, uprooting stitches and unstringing beads—one by one by hand in their spare time." A collective of women gathers to painstakingly turn wedding dresses into burial garments for infants. "Like many collectives whose existence and skills might...

The bad news is that we often feel isolated, alone and helpless in a cold and uncaring universe. The good news is that those feelings are just feelings and that love is the guiding principle of the universe. When Heaven Touches Earth is an inspirational collection of 25 true stories of miracles, marvels, and wondrous events that demonstrate that we...

Embraces death as a concept with due complexity. - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Starred Review Death - the one aspect of life we all have in common - is waiting for everyone, yet our practices, beliefs, myths, and stories about it are as diverse as we are. YOU DIED celebrates these vibrant cultural expressions of the great equalizer in a thrilling, life-affirming...

Since its debut thirty years ago, this favourite by one of the world's most beloved grief counsellors has found a place in the homes and hearts of hundreds of thousands of mourners across the globe. Filled with compassion and hope, Understanding Your Grief helps you understand and befriend your painful, complex thoughts and feelings after the death of someone loved....

From the journalist and critically acclaimed author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights comes a raw and penetrating memoir about surviving the loss of her sister and about embracing death as an essential, and enriching, part of life. Like a magician, Clover puts her grief into a hat and pulls out '70,000 perfect words to describe what it is like...

In January 2020, Amy Bloom travelled with her husband Brian to Switzerland, where he was helped by Dignitas to end his life while Amy sat with him and held his hand. Brian was terminally ill, and for the last year of his life, Amy had struggled to find a way to support his wish to take control of his death,...

Anthropologist Naomi Westerman was studying death rituals around the world when her whole family died. Upon losing those closest to her, Naomi Westerman saw that death was more than just an abstract academic concept; it was a deeply painful and personal experience. She became fascinated by loss and grief, and hoped to cope and demystify death by turning to history,...

Parents, teachers, and other adults can learn through this concise and caring guide to how children and adolescents grieve after someone they love dies. Exploring the six reconciliation needs of mourning, this helpful resource recognises that grieving children are especially deserving of an emotional environment of love and acceptance. Including a historical perspective on children and death, this handbook helps...

‘Fascinating… written with clarity and rooted in deep affection' Observer ‘A timely and balanced book that offers a unique insight into a debate whose relevance is only going to grow’ The Times A memoir and investigation exploring loss, community and the climate crisis in the Shetland Islands by environmental journalist Marianne Brown. 'Elegant' Sunday Telegraph 'Engrossing' i News 'Moving' The...

Thoughtful, beautiful, incredibly necessary. People need to read this book, especially if they feel a resistance to. I wish everyone would. — Sofie Hagen Uncompromising, anguished, combative: culture wars have victims, and this is an agonising story told with honesty and passion. — Richard Beard An intimate, beautifully told memoir — Elinor Cleghorn When my third child was born, I...

‘Extraordinary. It is about death, but I can think of few books which have such life. It shows us what love is.’ Max Porter, author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny ‘There is no one quite like Naja Marie Aidt’ Valeria Luiselli ‘Devastating, angry, challenging, fragmented and filled with the beautiful hope that the love we have...

Native women and women of colour poignantly share their pain, revelations, and hope after experiencing the traumas of miscarriage and infant loss What God Is Honored Here? is the first book of its kind—and urgently necessary. This is a literary collection of voices of Indigenous women and women of colour who have undergone miscarriage and infant loss, experiences that disproportionately...

Winner of the Dzanc Nonfiction Prize, The Loved Ones presents an intimate portrait of family grief, for fans of Maggie Nelson's Jane: A Murder and Kristin Prevallet's I, Afterlife. There are so many ways to bury the dead. In an autobiographical series of essays, The Loved Ones explores the deaths of four family members across three generations: an inexplicable double...