A Broken Heart Still Beats: When Your Child Dies (Hardcover)

~ Anne McCracken (Editor), Mary Semel (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The grief felt by a parent following a child's death is the theme of this book, edited by two mothers who share that unfortunate experience. As a cathartic exercise, McCracken and Semel assembled articles and excerpts-some fiction, some nonfiction-that featured the death of a child. They have also written a brief introduction to each chapter, describing a different stage of the grieving process and how it affected their lives.

The book contains a remarkable miscellany of emotionally charged literature by the likes of Melville, Frost, Shelley, Irving and Shakespeare. Each selection describes bereavement in a different way, lending credence to the editors' belief that no one can claim to understand another person's particular loss or its effects. The excerpted literature is of impeccable quality, as are the sentiments behind each piece. What's more, the editors' introductions to each chapter convey intense emotion sans the maudlin trappings that characterize many a self-help book. This book does not seek to instruct the reader on how to cope with grief, it merely shares the eloquence of those who have been there before. Highly recommended. -- Today's Librarian, September 1, 1999

Product Description

A Broken Heart Still Beats, After your child dies. This remarkable complilations of poetry, fiction, and essays eloquently expresses a parent's pain, stages of grief, and the coping and healing that follow. Judith Guest and Dominick Dunne are among the contributors, many of whom are bereaved parents themselves. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568382014
• ISBN-13: 978-1568382012
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #640,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most helpful book so far..., June 20, 2004

By	Ypsi (Youngstown, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Broken Heart Still Beats: After Your Child Dies (Paperback)

I lost my precious daughter Hannah Caguiat last December in an accident that injured me and her little sister Emily as well. Along with an outpouring of love, support, and sympathy from our family and community, I received dozens of books about bereavement in general and loss of a child in particular.

I received _A Broken Heart Still Beats_ as a gift recently and reading it has been so helpful. Despite the variety of experiences and the fact that some of the pieces in here are fiction, this is the first time I have felt like there are people out there who truly would understand what we are going through. It is not a self-help book, but does explore various aspects of being a bereaved parent -- from relationships with spouse/partner/child's other parent, to anger, to sibling issues. I highly recommend this for anyone who has lost a child or is close to someone who has.

I was saddened, too, by how many people out there in the arts and literature have been in this situation. So many that I never knew had experienced this.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shared experiences ease the pain of loss., August 15, 1999

By A Customer

I grew up knowing that my grandfather experienced the loss of a child, but I never gave it much consideration. One thing I wish I could do today, six years after the death of my 10-year-old son, is bring my deceased grandfather back to tell him my story and listen to him talk about the death of his only son during World War Two.

Anyone who has lived through the loss of a child will feel a lightening of the heart as they recognize their own experiences and thoughts in the words of others. This book is a valuable collection of work from gifted writers who had those experiences and thoughts.

Rabindranath Tagore's poem, "The End", reaches so deep it's painful, but I find myself reading it over and over because it puts my feelings to words in a way I can't. So now, because I read this book, eight simple words, artfully arranged by Tagore, will always be with me when I think of my son; "He is in my bones and in my soul."

Thank you, Anne and Mary, for giving me something like talking to my grandfather.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Very Helpful Book, March 25, 2001

By	Linda M. Durst "lmdurst" (Clarkston, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Broken Heart Still Beats: After Your Child Dies (Paperback)

Although it has been 15 years since the terrible loss of my very much loved daughter this book helped me very much. I have read many, many books since she passed away but find I am still searching for answers as well as ways to cope. I am glad to find there are other people who have suffered this loss and are much better at putting their feelings into words that I am. So many times I found myself thinking, "Yes!!!!!!!! that is exactly what I have been feeling". I recommend this for anyone experiencing this loss but only to read after a couple of years have passed. I know it takes that long to read something like this with a different perspective. I don't know that it would have helped the first couple of years, although nothing could help then.