BOOKS

Spouses in Grief from Journeysthrugrief.wordpress.com

~ A Look in the Mirror: A Handbook for Widowers by Ed Ames
~ Moving to the Center of the Bed by Sheila Weinstein
~ Widower’s Toolbox by G. J. Schaefer
~ Widowed by Dr. Joyce Brothers
~ Widowed Without Warning by Joanne Shortley-Lalonde
~ Taking the Trip: A Journey Through Widowhood by Romaine Presnell
~ I’m Grieving As Fast As I Can: How Young Widows and Widowers Can Cope and Heal by Linda Sones Feinberg
~ Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows by Kathleen M. Rehl Ph.D. CFP
~ A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss by Jerry Sittser (auto accident; multiple deaths)
~ Finding your Way After Your Spouse Dies by Marta Felber
~ Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss by Allen Klein (death of a young spouse)
~ STUNNED by Grief: Remapping Your Life When Loss Changes Everything by Judy Brizendine
~ STUNNED by Grief Journal by Judy Brizendine
~ The Sisterhood of Widows: Sixteen Stories of Grief, Anger and Healing by Mary Francis

General Information
~ Don’t Take My Grief Away by Doug Manning
~ When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner
~ Life is Goodbye, Life is Hello by Alla Renee Bozarth
~ Courage to Grieve by Judy Tatelbaum
~ More Than Surviving by Kelly Osmont
~ Grief by Joy and Dr. Marvin Johnson
~ The Wilderness of Grief by Alan Wolfelt
~ No One Should See What I Have Seen by Joy Johnson (in-depth look at dealing with severe trauma)
~ Praying Through Grief by Mauryeen O’Brien
~ Hello From Heaven, by William Guggenheim and Judy Guggenheim (after-death communication experiences)
~ Experiencing Life After Death: A Soul Journey that Everyone Should Take by Rev Keala Vai
~ Talking to the Living and the Dead – Soul to Soul Communications by Rev Keala Vai
~ Healing Grief, Finding Peace: 101 Ways to Cope with the Death of Your Loved One by Dr. Louis LaGrand
~ Love Lives On: Learning from the Extraordinary Encounters of the Bereaved by Dr. Louis LaGrand
~ After Death Communication: Final Farewells by Dr. Louis LaGrand
~ Guided Afterlife Connections: They Come to Change Lives by Rochelle Wright, MS and R. Craig Hogan, PhD

BOOK REVIEWS

Beyond Dusk: Anne (A House of Crimson and Clover Novelette)
by Sarah M. Cradit review by Patti Hall

This is the first time that I have read any of Sarah M. Cradit’s House of Crimson and Clover Series. The new novelette, Beyond Dusk: Anne, has turned me into a fan.

Anne’s story is quite capable of standing strong on its own, but be forewarned; you will still want to read all that came before, and all that comes after. This story revolves around Anne, yet gathers tendrils of a past filled with romance, mystery, drama, and a bit of paranormal magic from opposing sides of her family. Place is also a strong character in this novella. The family that she grew up with, is from the poverty-stricken depths of the Louisianian bayous. The family that she never knew, live in a stunning mansion in the rich culture of New Orleans.

Tying it altogether in 40 pages takes talent to pull off. Cradit has talent. The author offers up a perfectly comprehensive back-story, intriguing and character-driven Anne story, and several side trails to entice the reader to the next book.

Southern fiction, yes. Paranormal, yes. However, I highly recommend this novella to anyone looking for a great short read.

Red Clay & Roses, by S.K. Nicholls, review by Patti Hall

Debut author, S.K. Nicholls, has hit a home run with this American drama that is so much more. The evidence of the detailed, historically correct research that Nicholls must have done, is smoothly blended into the narrative and dialogue without a hitch. Red Clay & Roses sinks right into the middle of the most inflammatory issues in the deep south of fifty years ago; women’s rights, abortion, adoption, racism, rape and murder. The reader has a clear view from many perspectives, including: different cultures, young/old, and male/female. This alone, makes this a book for a variety of readers and their interests. It held my interest because it was based on a true story. We care about the characters immediately, as they try to balance the complicated and emotional political times that greatly affect each of their personal lives. Nicholls’s Hannah is a solid character who uses a strong, but gentle hand with all of those she interacts with. She backs off just when you want her to, and forges ahead when it is needed. Make time before you open this book, because you won’t want to stop turning to the next page, and the next. You’re going to get involved; you’re going to root for a forbidden love, when you thought you never would. You are going to get angry, and you’ll even laugh out loud. Nicholls deftly writes a story we all need to know. Her writing makes us care and makes us think. I strongly recommend this book for discussion among family, friends and book clubs.

Widow Stories by Michelle Latiolais; A Review by Patti Hall

Bellevue Literary Place, New York, 2011/ Erika Goldman, editor/Carol Edwards, copy editor

The title says “stories,” which allows us to assume we are reading fiction, the stories themselves assume something more. These are 17 authentically written stories from the voices of emotionally broken, bruised and healing women. Boldly told with dabs of intimacy, spots of distilled anger and strokes of light into the world of a widow. The reader is taken behind the battle lines to see the gritty realities, yet still kept from some of the details of the war itself by the author’s unsentimental restrained approach. We are captivated by her eloquent use of language and humor, yet sometimes shocked by the visceral content of sex, life and death.

Michelle Latiolais takes us into her world using the voices of various protagonists, or are these her at various stages of her life and grief?  She has a way of placing them  before us and then stepping away without a reaction. While I felt the outrageous truths of  brutality, insensitivity and ignorance in the way some people spoke to or treated the women in the stories, Latiolais allowed them to simply move on to the next scene without external or internal notice. Is this a widow’s numbness or her restraint?

One sentence may answer my question: “She doesn’t want them anywhere near how shattered she is.” Maybe Latiolais could not bear to bring her readers closer to her shattered self. In another sentence she talks about “…the mythology which the human animal makes sense of pain.” The author is making sense of her own pain, in whatever way she can. She does it well and beautifully.

I do appreciate the mystery of not being sure if these women are all the author, and I even that they didn’t scream and shout or make silent note of their reactions to the verbal and physical cruelty. I would recommend this book to widows and those that circle the world around widows, as well as anyone seeking emotional balance in a crisis. This is a book that enables us to feel less alone in our journey towards healing.