What’s On

The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story by Christie Watson

Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.

In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is a wonderfully moving fable that addresses the meaning of life, and life after death. The novel's protagonist is an elderly amusement park maintenance worker named Eddie who, while operating a ride called the 'Free Fall', dies while trying to save a young girl who gets in the way of a falling cart that hurtles to earth. Eddie goes to heaven, where he meets five people who were unexpectedly instrumental in some way in his life. While each guide takes him through heaven, Eddie learns a little bit more about what his time on earth meant, what he was supposed to have learned, and what his true purpose on earth was. Throughout there are dramatic flashbacks where we see scenes from his troubled childhood, his years in the army in the Philippines jungle, and with his first and only love, his wife Marguerite.

The Madness of Grief by The Reverend Richard Coles

When the Reverend Richard Coles's partner died suddenly, shortly before Christmas in 2019, what came next took Richard by surprise. Despite his years of experience assisting his parishioners in examining life's moral questions, Richard now found he needed guidance himself. Much about grief was unexpected: the volume of 'sadmin' that must be undertaken, how much harder it is travelling solo for work, the pain of typing a text message to your partner - then remembering they are gone. This deeply personal account of life after grief will resonate, unforgettably, long after the final page has been turned.

One Last Thing: How to live with the end in mind by Wendy Mitchell

Wendy Mitchell doesn't fear anything anymore. After her diagnosis of young-onset dementia in 2014, all of Wendy's old fears - the dark, animals - melted away. What more was there to be afraid of when she faced her worst fear: losing her own mind?

In One Last Thing, Wendy embarks on a journey to explore all angles of death: how we can prepare for it, how we talk about it with our loved ones and how we can be empowered to make our own choices. With conversations on the topic of assisted dying, from those who are fighting to make it legal to those vehemently opposed to its practice, Wendy reminds us that to get on with the business of living, we need to talk about death.

Grief Works by Julia Samuel

Grief Works is a compassionate guide that will inform and engage anyone who is grieving, from the 'expected' death of a parent to the sudden unexpected death of a small child, and provide clear advice for those seeking to comfort the bereaved.

Julia Samuel guides you gently through her eight practical pillars of strength - that include the power of saying 'no' to the structure and building of good new habits - to support you and help you to gradually rebuild your life in the face of grief:

With personal real-life stories of loss, and brilliantly accessible and practical advice, Grief Works will be passed down through generations as the definitive guide for anyone who has lost a loved one, and will revolutionise the way we talk about life, loss and death.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father.

Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

Happy Old Me: How to live long and really, really enjoy it by Hunter Davies

On 8th February 2016, Margaret Forster lost her life to cancer of the spine. The days that followed for her husband, Hunter Davies, were carried out on autopilot: arrangements to be made, family and friends to be contacted. But how do you cope after you have lost your loved one? How do you carry on?

Part memoir, part self-help, Happy Old Me is a fitting, heart-felt tribute to the love of his life and a surprisingly amusing and informative book about an age, and stage in life, which we might all reach someday

With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix

What if everything you thought you knew about death was wrong?

How should we prepare for the facts of dying and saying our goodbyes?

And what if understanding death improved your life?

By turns touching and tragic, funny and wise, With the End in Mind brings together Kathryn Mannix ’ s lifetime of medical experience to tell powerful stories of life and death.

Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog by Emily Dean

The funny, heart-breaking, wonderfully told story of love, family and overwhelming loss which led Emily Dean to find hope and healing in the dog she always wanted.

This is the funny heart-breaking, wonderfully told story of how Emily discovers that it is possible to overcome the worst that life can throw at you, that it's never too late to make peace with your past, and that the right time is only ever now, as she finally starts again with her very own dog - the adorable Shih-tzu named Raymond

The Essential Guide to Life After Bereavement by Judy Carole Kauffmann and Mary Jordan 

The period following the death of a loved one can be a time of great turmoil. This sensitive book acts as a helpful and supportive road map through the initial period of loss, and through the weeks and months that follow. The authors address not only the emotional and spiritual aspects of bereavement, but also important practical considerations which are often overlooked, such as the disposal of personal possessions, dealing with funerals, memorials and anniversaries and resolving family conflict. Drawing on many real examples from their work in bereavement counselling, they offer advice on coping with negative emotions, as well as unique and helpful guidance on breaking bad news to children, people with a learning disability and people with dementia. This practical book is essential reading for all those who have experienced bereavement or loss, as well as the friends, relatives and professionals involved in supporting them.

Dear Life: A doctor's story of love, loss and consolation by Rachel Clarke

As a specialist in palliative medicine, Dr Rachel Clarke chooses to inhabit a place many people would find too tragic to contemplate. Every day she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives and to help make dying more bearable.

Rachel's training was put to the test in 2017 when her beloved GP father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She learned that nothing - even the best palliative care - can sugar-coat the pain of losing someone you love.

And yet, she argues, in a hospice there is more of what matters in life - more love, more strength, more kindness, more joy, more tenderness, more grace, more compassion - than you could ever imagine. For if there is a difference between people who know they are dying and the rest of us, it is simply this: that the terminally ill know their time is running out, while we live as though we have all the time in the world.

Waiting for the Last Bus by Richard Holloway

Now in his ninth decade, former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway has spent a lifetime at the bedsides of the dying, guiding countless men and women towards peaceful deaths. A positive and profound exploration of the many important lessons we can learn, this is also a stirring plea to reacquaint ourselves with death. Doing so gives us the chance to think about the meaning of life itself; and can mean the difference between ordinary sorrow and unbearable regret at the end.

Radical, joyful and moving, Waiting for the Last Bus is an invitation to reconsider life's greatest mystery by one of the most important and beloved religious leaders of our time.

When I Had a Little Sister: The story of a farming family who never spoke by Catherine Simpson

On a cold December day in 2013 Catherine Simpson received the phone call she had feared for years. Her little sister Tricia had been found dead in the farmhouse where she, Catherine and their sister Elizabeth were born – and where their family had lived for generations.

Tricia was 46 and had been stalked by depression all her life. Yet mental illness was a taboo subject within the family and although love was never lacking, there was a silence at its heart.

After Tricia died, Catherine found she had kept a lifetime of diaries. The words in them took her back to a past they had shared, but experienced so differently, and offered a thread to help explore the labyrinth of her sister’s suicide.

The D Word: Talking about dying by Sue Brayne

The D-Word is a practical guide to support relatives, friends and carers who are coping with the distress and anxiety of someone nearing the end of life, or who has suddenly died. Today, life-extending treatments have over-ridden care for the soul. Death is regarded as a medical failure, and usually hidden away in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and mortuaries. We have lost the ability to talk openly about the end of life. It's frightening to know how to talk to a relative or friend who is dying, or to someone who has been suddenly bereaved but unless we confront this fear, important things can remain unsaid or incomplete, which often turns into unresolved grief, guilt and anger. Personal stories from people from all walks of life explore the different ways they have come to terms with the dying process or the sudden death of their spouse, partner, parent, friend or child, how they have confronted their fear of talking about it, and ways in which they found support during this very difficult time.

The Language of Loss: A psychotherapist's journey through grief by Sasha Bates

Languages of Loss starts a necessary and overdue conversation about death and loss. It breaks down taboos and tries to find humour and light amidst the depressing, bewildering reality. It is an essential companion to help support readers through the agony of those early months, giving permission for all the feelings, and offering various methods of living with them. This book's overriding message is that everyone's experience of grief is different, but knowing more about the theory, and learning a new vocabulary, while not necessarily easing the grief, can help you feel less alone, and at some point enable you to reflect back and see how far you have come.