"Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary life in China, and highly recommended for memoir enthusiasts in general." -- Library Journal (starred review) "Chongda paints a tantalizing portrait of a changing China in his dazzling English-language debut. [Vessel] shines with the bright talent of an excellent storyteller." -- Publishers Weekly An unprecedented and heartfelt memoir that illuminates the lives of rural Chinese workers, offering a portrait of generational strife, family, love, and loss that crosses cultures and time. Cai Chongda spent his childhood in a rural fishing village in Fujian province. When his father-a former communist gang leader turned gas station owner-has a stroke that partially paralyzes him, his responsibilities fall to Cai, his only son. Assuming his new role as head of the family, Cai toils alongside his mother and older sister to pay the medical bills that have become a part of a rapidly changing Chinese society. As Cai works his way through university and moves to Beijing, eventually becoming the editorial director of GQ China, he finds his life increasingly at odds with the family he supports but has left behind. Like The Glass Castle and Hillbilly Elegy, Vessel neither romanticizes nor condemns the people and circumstances that shaped a young man's life, but instead offers a way forward, revealing how tradition can enrich modern life. Translated from the Chinese by Dylan Levi King

This is a book filled with activities to allow individuals, families, and groups in bereavement support groups, at retreats, memorial services, and conferences to acknowledge the death of a loved one or community member in a gentle but effective way. The rituals include information about the appropriate age for specific rituals, materials needed for them, a description of how to go about creating them, and suggested meditations, poems, and thoughts that can be read during rituals.

'Moving and inspiring, courageous and true: real art. Just reading her is pleasure' Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun Just days into motherhood, a woman begins dying. Fast and without warning. On return from near-death, Tanya Shadrick vows to stop sleepwalking through life. To take more risks, like the characters in the fairy tales she loved as a small girl, before loss and fear had her retreat into routine and daydreams. Around the care of young children, she starts to play with the shape and scale of her days: to stray from the path, get lost in the woods, make bargains with strangers. As she moves beyond her respectable roles as worker, wife and mother in a small town, Tanya learns what it takes - and costs - to break the spell of longing for love, approval, safety, rescue.

OUTSIDE, THE SKY IS BLUE is a beautifully drawn, heart-breaking yet also joyful memoir of growing up, of living with mental ill health and cancer, and of working out what it means to be in a family, what it means to lose a family - and what's left when you're the last one left. When Christina Patterson's brother Tom died very suddenly, she faced the harrowing task of clearing out his house. Tom had always been the one who held on to the family treasures and memories, but now Christina had to sift through box after box of letters, papers, photos and belongings, not just of Tom's, but of their parents and their older sister, Caroline. Those boxes, albums and papers tell the story of a young couple who decide, when their children are small, to swap a glamorous diplomatic life in Rome for a housing estate in Surrey. But their new suburban life, of trips to National Trust houses, fizzy drinks over TV costume drama and walks at Wisley Gardens, is increasingly disrupted by Caroline's, erratic behaviour. As she is diagnosed with schizophrenia, Tom seeks solace in sport and Christina in a youth club where she hopes to meet boys, but finds God. 'Patterson is a passionate, funny woman who refuses simply to struggle on. She believes in living. And throwing parties. And friendship' Sunday Times

When she isn't eavesdropping on family gossip or gazing at taxidermy squirrels in smoky dives, Courtney Kersten charts the uncertainty of her midwestern homeland by looking to the stars and planets. As a teen she had plunged deep into the worlds of signs, symbols, and prophecy. But as her mother-her traveling companion into these spheres-lies dying, Kersten must learn to navigate without the person who always lit the way. Their last journey together, to swim in a Wisconsin lake, is a bittersweet, darkly comic, poignant climax to this transformative memoir.

'Wonderful, thoughtful, practical' - Cariad Lloyd, Griefcast 'Encouraging and inspiring' - Dr Kathryn Mannix, author of Amazon bestseller With the End in Mind End-of-life doula Anna Lyons and funeral director Louise Winter have joined forces to share a collection of the heartbreaking, surprising and uplifting stories of the ordinary and extraordinary lives they encounter every single day. From working with the living, the dying, the dead and the grieving, Anna and Louise reveal the lessons they've learned about life, death, love and loss. Together they've created a profound but practical guide to rethinking the one thing that's guaranteed to happen to us all. We are all going to die, and that's ok. Let's talk about it. This is a book about life and living, as much as it's a book about death and dying. It's a reflection on the beauties, blessings and tragedies of life, the exquisite agony and ecstasy of being alive, and the fragility of everything we hold dear. It's as simple and as complicated as that.

'This book may on first glance appear to be about death and regrets, but is in reality about life and choices. It is warmly life-affirming ... A magnificent read that will inspire. I loved it' Sue Black 'So beautiful ... Perfectly written and judged ... A wonderful book that made me grasp life a little more firmly' Dr Chris van Tulleken A powerful, moving and hopeful book exploring what people regret most when they are dying and how this can help us lead a better life. If you were told you were going to die tomorrow, what would you regret? Ten years ago, without time to think or prepare, Georgina Scull ruptured internally. The doctors told her she could have died and, as Georgina recovered, she began to consider the life she had led and what she would have left behind. Paralysed by a fear of wasting what seemed like precious time but also fully ready to learn how to spend her second chance, Georgina set out to meet others who had faced their own mortality or had the end in sight.

Readers mourning the loss of a loved one will find solace and strength in these 101 emotional and inspiration stories from those who have gone through the grieving process. "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery" will help readers during this difficult time.
Everyone grieves in their own way. While the hurt and sadness never completely fade, it eases with time. Contributors who have gone through the grieving and recovery process share their stories, offering guidance and support in this collection of personal and poignant stories. With its stories of regaining strength, appreciating life, coping, and faith, "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery" will ease the journey to healing.

This book, written in the genre of "Imaginal Psychology", presents the imaginal dimension of the mourning process. The "angels" it greets are the interior figures who greet the bereaved during the course of their mourning process. In memory, reverie, and dream, images of the dead return to heal and be healed. As the bereaved enter into relationship with these images, the grief in which they are sequestered is particularized and individualized into the precise nuances of significance which make mourning possible.

More than thirty years ago, David Loftus’s cherished identical twin, John, passed away. Ever since, a day hasn’t passed without David feeling the loss.

In 1987, after recovering from a brain tumour, John contracted meningitis and found himself back in hospital for treatment. David, as always, was by his side. They were opening their twenty-fourth birthday presents when a fatally miscalculated routine injection forced John into a coma. He died within two weeks.

Over the past year, David has spent an hour every day remembering John and recording his story by hand. Diary of a Lone Twin is the product of that daily ritual – a powerful and deeply personal account that covers everything from enchanting and charmingly evoked childhood vignettes to the acute loneliness and raw pain that followed John’s death.

In sharing this beautifully written diary, award-winning and internationally acclaimed photographer David Loftus provides a rare insight for anyone who wishes to understand the bond between identical twins, and the unique bereavement of a lone twin that few people will ever experience.

Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022 Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2022 'Original, memorable, shimmering' - Sarah Moss Today I might trace the rungs of her larynx or tap at her trachea like the bones of a xylophone . . . Something gleeful and malevolent is moving in Lia's body, learning her life from the inside out. A shape-shifter. A disaster tourist. It's travelling down the banks of her canals. It's spreading. When a sudden diagnosis upends Lia's world, the boundaries between her past and her present begin to collapse. Deeply buried secrets stir awake. As the voice prowling in Lia takes hold of her story, and the landscape around becomes indistinguishable from the one within, Lia and her family are faced with some of the hardest questions of all: how can we move on from the events that have shaped us, when our bodies harbour everything? And what does it mean to die with grace, when you're simply not ready to let go? Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is a story of coming of age at the end of a life. Utterly heart-breaking yet darkly funny, Maddie Mortimer's astonishing debut is a symphonic journey through one woman's body: a wild and lyrical celebration of desire, forgiveness and the darkness within us all. 'Restlessly inventive . . . delicate and persuasive' - The Guardian 'Extraordinary, kaleidoscopic' - Daisy Johnson

Feelings of loneliness, isolation, and depression sometimes overcome people who have recently been bereaved, filling them with hopelessness and despair, extinguishing their will to go on living. When Mourning Comes is a unique source of comfort and hope. Written by William B. Silverman-a prominent rabbi-and Kenneth M. Cinnamon-a clinical psychologist-When Mourning Comes is not a book about grief, but rather a guide for the grieving. Full of comforting insights and wise suggestions on how to view and cope with the grief of bereavement, this book draws on the author's own experiences and those of people whom they have known and counseled over the years.

We all need a little help sometimes - whether it's to overcome personal loss and grief, or to navigate our way through self-doubt. In The Book of Healing, Tara Ward, bestselling author and expert in wellbeing and spiritual development, takes you through the process of recovering from loss and grief. Learning the art of self-healing - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - is tremendously important and can be achieved through practical exercises, meditation, reflection and mindfulness. Whether it's the loss of a loved one, loneliness, grief or even loss of self, Tara offers a roadmap through the recovery process. She shows how learning to embrace joy amidst the grief, and discovering self-compassion as well as compassion for others will create health, and help you to thrive. Tara's advice is practical and task-focussed, straightforward and accessible. Drawing on your own personal responses, you will feel inspired to reclaim some light in your life, escape the past, and look to the future, fully healed and restored.

Help for people coping with and preparing for death from a general Christian perspective The aim of this book is to help people who are coping primarily (but also with any kind of major loss or change) from a general Christian perspective. It will offer resources and help to people asking fundamental questions about death. It includes poetry and prose, prayer and liturgical resources, and a chapter on preparing your funeral. There is a bibliography and a list of organisations which might be able to offer support. The book is popular, but thoughtful and reflective style and includes exercises on understanding, and quotations from people reflecting on their experience.

'A bracing, heart-lifting read. Patterson is a superb writer' Observer OUTSIDE, THE SKY IS BLUE is a heart-breaking yet also truly joyful and wise memoir of growing up, of dealing with mental health and illness, and of what it means to be part of a family that, despite everything, is able to laugh and to love. 'A memoir about the loss of faith and hope. A memoir about the loss of faith and hope. The book journeys to dark places but it's too honest and well written to be dispiriting. She perseveres in her quest to understand' Guardian When Christina Patterson's brother Tom died suddenly, she faced the harrowing task of clearing out his house. Tom had always been the one who held on to the family treasures and memories, but now Christina had to sift through boxes of letters, photos and belongings, not just of Tom's, but of their parents and their older sister, Caroline. The contents of those boxes tell the story of a young couple who decide to swap a glamorous diplomatic life in Rome for a housing estate in Surrey. But their new suburban, happy life, is increasingly disrupted by Caroline's erratic behaviour. As she is diagnosed with schizophrenia, Tom seeks solace in sport and Christina in a youth club where she hopes to meet boys, but finds God instead. It doesn't help her in her quest for romance. 'A hymn to optimism, and a beacon of unflagging hope' iPaper 'This is a joyful book. Despite the sorrows, there is a determined joy to this tale, a pattern of finding the good despite the bad, of turning to face the sun so the shadows fall behind' Dr Kathryn Mannix 'She writes beautifully - crisp, yet emotional and page-turning. For me, it is something about her clarity and brutal honesty in describing both heartbreak and heart bursting life and love. In the end it is only the love that matters' Julia Samuel, author of Grief Works

Sadly, too many people have had the experience of Abby Schneiderman: Her brother was killed in a car accident, and the family was left with no idea of what he wanted - he hadn't left any plans behind. No will, no health proxy, and no one, including his wife, knew his passwords. Out of this tragedy came the focus of Everplans, a digital company that Abby cofounded to help people of all ages organise their lives and legacy now - so that their loved ones won't have to later. Drawing on the wealth of experience from Abby and the Everplans team, this book presents a clearly designed and easy-to-follow program to help even the most disorganised reader take control of modern life's burgeoning mess of on- and off-line details. Breaking the job down into three levels, from the most urgent (granting access to passwords, outlining a financial blueprint) to the technical (creating a manual for the systems in your home) to the nostalgic (assembling a living memory complete with photos, recipes, significant stories), In Case You Get Hit by a Bus takes the anxiety and stress out of putting your life in order. With a wealth of information to cover just about any contingency, it will help you leave the best parting gift you could ever imagine.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Immensely moving and disarmingly witty' Nigella Lawson 'Such a moving, tough, funny, raw, honest read' Matt Haig 'Beautifully written, moving and gut-wrenching, but also at times very funny' Ian Rankin 'Captures brilliantly, beautifully, bravely the comedy as well as the tragedy of bereavement' The Times 'Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved' Independent Whether it is pastoral care for the bereaved, discussions about the afterlife, or being called out to perform the last rites, death is part of the Reverend Richard Coles's life and work. But when his partner the Reverend David Coles died, shortly before Christmas in 2019, much about death took Coles by surprise. For one thing, David's death at the early age of forty-three was unexpected. The man that so often assists others to examine life's moral questions now found himself in need of help. He began to look to others for guidance to steer him through his grief. The flock was leading the shepherd. Much about grief surprised him: the volume of 'sadmin' you have to do when someone dies, how much harder it is travelling for work alone, even the pain of typing a text message to your partner - then realising you are alone. The Reverend Richard Coles's deeply personal account of life after grief will resonate, unforgettably, with anyone who has lost a loved one.

Michael Stern, PhD, is a clinical psychologist practicing in New York and New Jersey. He is an adjunct associate professor at Teachers' College of Columbia University, and a clinical supervisor in a number of other academic institutes. He has worked and published in the field of the human-animal bond, is counseling bereaved pet owners, and is currently involved in assisting pet owners who are threatened with evictions and legal actions by their landlords. This activity grew out of frequently asked questions at book signing events, radio call-in shows, and television interviews, when it became clear that too many people are forced to part with their pets because of housing restrictions. Stern's experience with various age groups serves as background to many of the chapters in Loving and Losing a Pet. In following the meaning that pet ownership has in different phases of life, one can gain a better appreciation of the bonds that develop. It also enhances one's understanding of the grief involved in losing a pet at any of these phases. The book is based on real people with real pets. The many anecdotes that are offered as illustrations were taken from the professional experience of the book's coauthor, Susan Cropper, a veterinarian with a unique home visiting practice in northern New Jersey. Such an approach made it easier to address practical issues and concerns in a clear and specific manner, while all along preserving the authors' awe and appreciation of the wonderful bond between people and their pets.

'Dr Moore's 1000-day-plus journey evocatively and beautifully describes the mental devastation that personal loss can leave in its wake and offers us the remarkable combination of expert commentary and an intensely personal captivating narrative.' - Peter Fonagy OBE, Professor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Head of Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL 'A book that appeals to different audiences. It will reach out to those who have lost loved ones and need the comfort and solace of knowing that they are not alone in their suffering.' - Luisa Stopa, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Southampton Vanessa's husband Paul dies suddenly and tragically on their regular Sunday morning swim. How will she cope with her dilapidated house, her teenage children, the patients who depend on her? Will therapy help? Why do mysterious white feathers start appearing in unexpected places? As a clinical psychologist, Vanessa Moore is used to providing therapy and guidance for her patients. But as she tries to work out how to survive the trauma that has derailed her life, she begins to understand her profession from the other side. Like her, many of her patients were faced with life events they hadn't been expecting - a child born with a disability or life-limiting illness, a sudden bereavement, divorce, failure - and it is their struggles and stories of resilience and bravery that begin to help her process her own personal loss. Taking us through her journey towards recovery as she navigates the world of dating and tries to seek the right therapy, Vanessa uses her professional skills to explore the many questions posed by unanticipated death and find a way forwards. Beautifully written and honestly relayed, One Thousand Days and One Cup of Tea is a heartbreaking grief memoir of the process of healing experienced as both a bereaved wife and clinical psychologist. "This book is about a period of great loss in my life, a time when the tables were completely turned on me. I was a qualified therapist who suddenly found myself needing psychological therapy. I was a trained researcher who became my own research subject, as I tried to make sense of what was happening to me. I was an experienced manager who now struggled to manage the events taking place in my own life. Yet, throughout all this turmoil, my patients were always there, in the background, reminding me that there are many different ways to deal with loss and trauma and search for a way forwards." Vanessa Moore