Death... And How to Survive It

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View books by Kate Boydell.

Essential reading - Rated
I don't agree with the last review. This book tells it like it is. I was recently widowed and have found it to be fantastically helpful in every respect. I laughed and cried, but most of all I was left feeling that there is hope for the future.
I think you have to have expereinced the loss of a partner to truly understand why this book is essential reading.

A reassuring book - Rated
I bought this book for a close friend and read it myself first. It was very enlightening for me, and my friend also found it reassuring. The emphasis is perhaps a little too strong on the author's own experience, and a few informal case studies would have helped broaden it. However I can vouch for it as a valuable read if you want to know what a close friend is going through as it's a very open and honest account.

A real help... - Rated
How I wish with all my heart that I'd never needed to find this book - but if you find yourself in a similar situation this will be a great help. Being widowed unexpectedly at a relatively young age is quite isolating - this book made me feel less alone (something you can and do feel even if there are hundreds of people around you) and determined that however difficult life is from now on somehow I will survive.

for everyone who doesn't know what to do when someone dies - Rated
if a friend has lost their partner and you don't know what to do or say, buy this book for them, make the recipe on page 75 and take it round. So many people say at the funeral 'if there's anything i can do just let me know', This book makes it easy to understand why the person who is grieving never does 'let you know' and helps you to realise just what they might be going through. Buy it for someone else and be a real friend before you need to buy it for your self. This book is refreshing, honest, real and full of helpful information. If you cannot cook, buy a take-away and take it round, take the children out for the day or take away a basket of ironing and return it done; do anything for them that makes that day a tiny bit easier. This book will help you make a difference.

Thank God for good advice! - Rated
This is so helpful to anyone who has lost a partner. At whatever stage you might be in terms of your grief, there is something for you here. From the early days when your brain is like soup and you need practical advice, through to a time when you might contemplate leaving the house for an evening out, there is a chapter for you.

You don't need sugary words or psychological explanations of the grieving process - you need clear, straightforward advice and this is what you get with this book.

I think it is also required reading for anyone who might be trying to help a friend or family member coping with the loss of their partner as this will help you to understand a process that is thankfully outside the experiences of most people until later in life.

I am widowed and this book will end up being as well thumbed as my 'Delia'!