Customer Reviews

The Mourning Handbook: The Most Comprehensive Resource Offering Practical and Compassionate Advice on Coping with All Aspects of Death and Dying

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I first bought this book for a British friend in Italy who thought she was going crazy because she was still subject to bouts of crying two months after her Mother's death. The book helped her tremendously. I bought my own copy when my Father died and found it as helpful as it appeared to be before death touched me personally.

I could go on for more than the maximum 1,000 words and still not finish describing this book. Suffice to say that its greatest strength is that it is totally non-judgmental. There are no "shoulds," no timetables, only the constant theme that the rollercoaster of emotions that is ruling your life right now is probably perfectly normal and temporary. Ms. Fitzgerald does offer benign guidelines to help the reader decide when things might be getting out of hand and require professional help, but with no pressure.

The book covers every eventuality for every type of death. The style is clear, the information easily found, the approach completely objective.

"The Mourning Handbook" is excellent and it hits the nail on the head when it comes to the pain of grief! This book has brought me a lot of comfort and relief as I dealt with the unexpected deaths of several loved ones in my life. This book also helped to not be so hard on myself as I went through my grieving process. This book is very educational in explaining many aspects of bereavement. It also talks a lot about what to expect when you are grieving, how to survive, how to cope, and also how to help other people who have lost loved ones. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has lost a loved one.

Helen's sub-title "The Most Comprehensive..." is spot on. It's very comprehensive and is by far one of the most useful handbooks I've read. And the inclusion "with All Aspects..." is also spot on. This books covers things you never really would think of or associate with in coping with the death of a loved one or just a death until you've been there and even then, there are things that I never thought about until I read this handbook that I'm grateful Helen wrote about so that I felt more comfortable and confident in dealing with those aspects.

Losing someone you love or someone whose life or death had a profound impact on your life often leaves you stunned. Frankly, the words meant to comfort given by friends and family only add insult to injury even though they're all well-meaning. It's my hope that for anyone who does know of someone coping with a loss, that instead of words, you present this book.

It's like an encyclopedia. You can flip through and read bits and pieces as you need. It's not intended to be read front to cover and most will never read every page as there are bound to be portions that won't apply. But Helen has covered a large area that death does touch upon and does so in a way that offers immediate help and provides you with more resources to help too. I really liked that there's an equal balance between providing information --a general acknowledgement and understanding being offered-- and resources. The book is helpful on its own merits, a really great tool when utilizing the references and other suggestions beyond the book, too.

Acknowledgements [...] puts this book into many of their sympathy gift baskets (which is where I first got mine) along with a nice selection of other helpful, soothing gifts. Check them out, too. The gifts are beautiful and meaningful as is Helen Fitzgeralds handbook.

I found this book after losing my father a few weeks ago. I have found it to be a helpful resource and a comfort. The author uses simple language and short sections. The sections are divided so that a person can easily find the topic most needed without reading the enitre book. Highly recommended.

As a counselor, I find that many people have trouble in life due to the fact that they are not grieving properly, and get stuck in one phase or another of greif. I found this book to be a useful tool for review before I do grief counseling. There are so many situations that we will grieve over, especially anything that we consider a personal and significant loss, from the loss of a favorite pen to wrecking your favorite car to the loss of a dearly loved one. I would recommend this book to non-counselors as well - anyone who find themselves trying to comfort friends or relatives.

The book was never received,but I was given a refund. The book contains important information concerning death and dying. I would strongly recommend this book.

I was devastated when I lost my only borther! This book was so helpful that I wanted to contact the writer to recommend its translation to different languages so that it could reach more grieving people and help them as it helped me. Lots of helpful hints on what to do to heal faster, and when you know others who are going facing serious diseases.

When I lost a sister a few years later to Cancer, I was able to manage better and help those around better. Simply GREAT BOOK. Thank you, Helen.

As I have not read the book yet, I can't give it a fair review. But I will say, I have had positive communication with the author who suggested I read the book.
Because I was taken to task about a review in which I said I had not read the book, I don't feel it fair that I comment further.