Creative Acts of Healing: After a Baby Dies [Paperback]

Judith Van Praag (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 113 pages
• Publisher: Paseo Pr; 1 edition (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967267706
• ISBN-13: 978-0967267708
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judith van Praag aka the Dutchess Abroad writes about "real characters" she never or barely knew. By making up their lives she fills in a history that was lost during and in the aftermath of World War II. Her narrative takes the reader from A-Z or rather visa versa, from Zandvoort (on the North sea shore) via Haarlem, to Amsterdam and the pastoral northern provinces of the Netherlands. *** Expect mystery, lust and love in the novel "Forgiveness"(work title), a saga about a 50-year-old man who changes careers --becomes a professional artist-- for the sake of love; an intimate look at the art world, collaboration and redemption in post WWII Noord-Holland. *** "Painting for Life"(work title), is a memoir about the author's family "going back to nature" in 1962. Before long it turns out leaving "Mokum" (Yiddish for Amsterdam) for a farm at the crossroads of three provinces does not mean memories of a troubled past stay behind. *** "Tell All Who Knew Me Goodbye" is a memoir about the gift of forgetfulness. *** In 1999 Judith published a book on infant loss, grief, and the healing power of creativity. She makes her home in Seattle with her Texan husband & talented Basenji x Terrier mutt and writes about Art, Literature and Entertainment and the writing artist's life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative Acts of Healing after a baby dies, January 10, 2000

By 

Molly Haarhoff, Librarian (Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Acts of Healing: After a Baby Dies (Paperback)

This book is much more than a heart-breakingly honest and moving description of the agonizing months for the author after the death at birth of her daughter ARIANE. It also describes her development as an artist; her struggles to maintain a strong relationship with her husband.

Judith van Praag is so generous in sharing her feelings with us that she has created a book that will move anyone who has suffered loss--that is to say most readers. By sharing her journal, she also gives unique insight into the spirit of an artist; the joys and challenge of living a creative life.

This is a unique book which allows us to share vanPraag's grief, her determination to live the life of the artist, in short, her life. Anyone who reads this book will be enriched by it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cried uncontrollably before finishing the introduction, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Creative Acts of Healing: After a Baby Dies (Paperback)

The author grabbed into the deepest part of my soul through her honesty, straight-forwardness, and colorful use of the English language. Not only was I moved emotionally, but given some key information on how to deal with others who face loss of a baby during childbirth. My husband and I have decided to use the information gleaned from this book in counseling and working with women who hurt after the loss of a child. It is a necessary book for doctors, social workers, ministers/pastors, counselors, mothers, and anyone desiring to be a parent. Although loss of a child through childbirth is a subject we tend to avoid, it is important for us to aid in the healing process by responding correctly to those who have faced such horror.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not what I expected, November 2, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Creative Acts of Healing: After a Baby Dies (Paperback)

What the book is not:
A book of ideas to help you mourn and recover from the loss of your baby. Projects to memorialize your lost child as a way to heal. Ideas for little rituals to mourn/celebrate your baby.

What the book is:
The first part is written in journal style, being the writings of the author during the first year after the loss and commentary (made 5 yrs. later) about those entries. The second part of the book is written in narrative prose and continues relating how she and her husband coped with their loss on a long term basis.

A lot of the feelings expressed by the author of this book will be familiar to those who've lost babies (especially at or before birth), but I also found some of it (usually the parts in the Netherlands that were unlike American experience) to be irrelevant to me personally. It's still great for anyone needing to hear a voice from someone who's been there.

It's a good book, but what I was thinking it would be when I bought it was more along the lines of what I listed above in "What the book is not". I didn't really need a book to tell me my feelings about miscarriage were valid and common or what the stages of grief are. I needed some project to do or creative way to show the world my baby is/was real.