eCondolence.com has compiled a list of suggested reading relating to loss and mourning. Selections are divided by four categories: General, Loss of a Child, For Grieving Children, and Faith-Based Coping.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ann Finkbeiner is a freelance science writer, with a focus on astronomy and cosmology, who, after losing her son to an untimely death, wanted to research the long-term affects the loss of a child will have on parents.
SYNOPSIS
Finkbeiner relates her own experiences and pain to show that bereaved parents really can move beyond the tragedy, even though they never completely let go of the struggle. After the death of a child, the parents’ world changes drastically. In After the Death of a Child: Living with Loss Over the Years, Finkbeiner combines thorough research with the interviews of parents who had experienced similar loss to provide guidance to her audience.
Kathleen O’Hara, MA, LPC is an author and psychotherapist who specializes in counseling survivors of Violent Death Trauma, including homicide, suicide, drug over-dose, vehicular homicide, war, terrorism, accident or any sudden and unexpected death.
As a mother, Kathleen O’Hara saw her worst fears realized when her college-aged son was brutally murdered in 1999. In the aftermath of Aaron’s murder, O’Hara developed the seven stage journey that is at the heart of A Grief Like No Other. Although this is a book for those left behind in the aftermath of violence, it offers concrete and practical steps and stages, allowing family and friends safe passage through this incredibly harrowing journey.
Beyond Tears was written by Newsday columnist, Ellen Mitchell, along with nine mothers who had experienced first hand the horrors of losing a child.
Meant to bring comfort and hope to grieving parents, Beyond Tears contains the stories of nine mothers who have lost a child. The nine mothers share what they experienced during the first year with the hopes that it will give guidance to others. The revised edition includes a chapter about surviving siblings.
Gone But Not Lost is a thoughtful gift for a family that has experienced the death of a child. Each of its brief chapters covers one element of grief, bringing the grieving through sorrow and helping them deal with feelings of anger or guilt as well as the marital strain that may follow the loss of a beloved child. The loss of a child brings special challenges for the grieving process that Wiersbe handles in a compassionate and compelling way.