bereavement

After his mother's death, 12-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna.

Provides information to promote the acceptance of the concept of death, discussing such aspects as the terminally ill, suicide, grief and mourning, and the treatment of death in various cultures.

Describes what it is like to have a loved one face a terminal illness or die suddenly, depicting the experiences of various young people in this situation and how they felt.

Inspired by a dream the author has shortly before her daughter dies, this is the story of the passage through death from the perspective of a small angel.

"Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances--in their house, on the roadway, in the market. Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron has spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, independent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly, he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye. A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humor, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles"--.

An exploration of how death of a loved one affects the survivors, with practical discussion of how to handle the many emotional and physical reactions we may encounter in bereavement.

A collection of thoughts, notes, and reflections upon marriage, love, death, and grief written by the English author, C. S. Lewis after the death of his wife, Helen Joy Davidman.