A validating new approach to dealing with the grief process that explains why we get “stuck,” why that’s normal, and how grief can even help us grow—from the New York Times bestselling author of Motherless Daughters Shouldn’t I be over this by now? Why do I still feel the pain? Because we are culturally conditioned to think of appropriate grief as lasting a finite period of time, too many of us feel that we’re getting grief “wrong” when our sadness emerges anew, months or even years after a loss. In The AfterGrief, Hope Edelman offers a new and emotion-affirming paradigm: grief is not an emotion to pass through on the way to “feeling better,” but rather something that we will repeatedly cycle back through as we are triggered by important life events and new crises. Drawing from her own experience of early loss and its ripple effect across her adult life as well as her longitudinal study of the experiences of the more than seventy-five people, Edelman shows that we do not have to be helpless in the face of each new trigger. With profound advice for reframing loss and adjusting the stories we tell ourselves about its impact on our identities, this book will help us find equilibrium with each “new normal,” and even experience post-loss growth as we evolve. An inspiring guide for people experiencing both new and renewed sadness, The AfterGrief shows that though grief is a lifelong process, it doesn’t have to be a lifelong struggle. About the Author: Hope Edelman is the internationally acclaimed author of six nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters, Motherless Mothers, and the memoir The Possibility of Everything. Her original essays have appeared in many anthologies, including The Bitch in the House, Behind the Bedroom Door, and Goodbye to All That. Her work has received a New York Times notable book of the year designation and a Pushcart Prize for creative nonfiction. She is certified as a Martha Beck International Life Coach, and facilitates Motherless Daughter retreats all over the world. An instructor at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and the MFA program at Antioch University-Los Angeles, she lives in Topanga Canyon, California, with her husband and their two daughters. hopeedelman.com |
