There’ll be exhaustion, love tinged with occasional rage, even moments of black humour. But my mum would want me to tell you: don’t be afraidMy mother’s house looks exactly as she left it.Two novels sit by the armchair, their...
Read MoreThe platitudes, euphemisms and cliches are excruciating. But the people who say nothing at all are the worstLuckily, I already knew having a comic thought at a tragic moment is a natural stress response, or I might have worried....
Read MoreOne crashing wave on one single day changed everything for our family. How would I keep going?Before they enter the water, surfers will study the ocean. They consider wind and tide conditions. They analyse currents and patterns,...
Read MoreDecades after my father’s death, I was still angry about losing him. Finding a good-luck symbol set me on a new path Sumter, South Carolina, where I grew up, was nicknamed “Murk City”. It’s not all bad, but it has a history of...
Read MoreI tried everything from gong baths to junk food and intermittent crying as I attempted to deal with my grief. Nothing helped – until I started tuning in to what my body was telling meI didn’t think I could survive the death of...
Read MoreAs the razor-sharp lawyer in the 90s hit drama, Nardini’s character epitomised the work-hard, play-hard attitudes of the era. But after going through cancer, divorce and bereavement, the actor decided to retrainAlmost 30 years...
Read MoreBianca Devins was 17 when she was killed by a man who then shared photos of her mutilated body on sites like Instagram and Snapchat – something her mother Kim describes as ‘psychological terrorism’. Here, she reveals her battle...
Read MoreHer first album was a huge hit – then she faced the sudden tragedy of her husband’s early death. She describes the rupture of grief, her return to music and the harsh reality of fame as a woman in the 00sTwenty years ago,...
Read MoreIn 1999, Heather Preen contracted E coli on the beach. Two weeks later she died. Now, as a new Channel 4 show dramatises the scandal, her mother, Julie Maughan, explains why she is still looking for someone to take...
Read MoreEach year, about 80 British people are victims of a homicide overseas, and grieving loved ones have to navigate the aftermath. Eve Henderson describes losing her husband, and her fight to help othersOn a Sunday in October 1997,...
Read MoreHamnet and H Is for Hawk fuse themes of loss, birds and elemental female emotion. But whose fault is it if you remain dry-eyed?‘Is it porn or is it art?” A familiar, even dated question where nudity is involved, and (forgive...
Read MorePeople say my job must make me morbid, but I think the opposite is true, I truly appreciate lifeNot many people can say their happy place is a cemetery, but mine certainly is. I didn’t set out to dig graves for a living – it’s...
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