Bookshop: Bereavement - for personal and professional interest

If you buy from the Bookshop at St Christopher's, you are donating to our work.

The following books are available from the St Christopher's bookshop. For further information and details please contact the Librarian, St Christopher's Hospice

Abrams R

When parents die. Learning to live with the loss of a parent. 2nd edition

Routledge 1999
£19.99

Rebecca Abrams draws on her personal and professional understanding of parental loss, as well as the experiences of many other adults, teenagers and young children, to provide the reader with an honest, compassionate and insightful exploration of the experience of losing a parent. Her father died when she was 19, and her stepfather died two years later. She believes that losing a parent at this age means encountering problems, which are often largely ignored or unrecognised. Rebecca Abrams now works as a counsellor

Billings G

Coping with your partner’s death: your bereavement

Sheldon Press 2008
£17.99

This book takes a broadly practical approach to being bereaved of a partner. He discusses one’s changed role, financial issues, new routines around the house, security and safety, health and well-being. Yet his introduction shows the love and friendship he shared with his partner and he wanted to write the book to help others in a similar situation to understand and respond to the many tasks, problems, demands and situations one is likely to encounter. He has also produced comprehensive lists of “things to do” to assist in regaining some kind of control over his life.

Blank J W

The death of an adult child

Baywood Publishing Company 1998 £50.00

There are a number of books on the effects of a young child's death on parents - however, there is little written on the effects of the death of an adult child. This book is based on the author''s personal experience as well as the experiences of over 60 respondents to a letter and questionnaire on the subject. Respondents mainly came from a request for information placed in the newsletter of ''Compassionate Friends'', an international organisation for bereaved parents.

Jeanne Webster Blank''s daughter died from breast cancer, within three weeks of diagnosis. She was aged 39. Six years later, her bereavement counsellor asked her to talk to a group of college students about her experience of bereavement. This was the catalyst for the request for information in the newsletter and, later, the writing of the book.

Candle Project

Children and funerals

St Christopher’s Hospice 2003
£0.10

A leaflet providing help on how to discuss funerals with children, how to Include them in a funeral service and how to obtain further support for them.

Candle Project

Children, young people and loss

St Christophers’ Hospice 2008
£0.10

At the time of a death, parents and other adults may find it hard to think about how to care for needs of bereaved children. This A4 leaflet provides a summary of the type of support needed by a child at this time.

Carleton J

Give sorrow words

Goldney Books 2004
£7.99

A collection of 50 poems offering consolation and condolence in bereavement

Dale N

What colour is grief?

Different Sky 2007
£10

Here is an artistic depiction of the chaos and pain following the death of a partner. The art is partly depicted in the writing which has a poetic quality, the variations in text which touches on calligraphy and the art itself. It is an unusual book that will be appreciated by many people who have been bereaved.

Doughty C

If there is anything I can do...

White Ladder Press 2007
£7.99

This is written by a woman with young children whose partner had died. She describes her sorrow and how she coped – but it is also useful for anyone who wants to offer practical support to a bereaved parent.

Flem L

Final reminder: how I emptied my parents’ house

Souvenir Press Ltd 2005
£9.99

Described as "taboo-breaking", the author covers, from personal experience, the range of emotions experienced in bereavement. In particular she outlines how feelings are often intensified by having to empty one's parents' house.

Goldman Linda

Great answers to difficult questions about death

Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2009
£10.99

This book helps adults to prepare themselves for the many questions children could ask about death. There are 12 chapters and some examples are 1)What does dead mean? How do people die? 2) I worry a lot. Will I die too? Will you die too? 3) Will I forget my dad? What if I forget him? How can I remember? 4) How can I remember with friends and family?

Jenkins C, Merry J

Relative grief

Jessica Kingsley 2003
£19.99

This is a compilation of short reflections by many people on the death of someone close to them. They are themed by the relationship the writer had with the deceased – mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, partners, grandparents, grandchildren, friends.

Mabey J (ed)

Words to comfort words to heal: poems and meditations for those who grieve

Oneworld Publications, 1998
£8.99

Poems and text extracts from writers over many centuries, including short texts from a variety of religious writings, make this an anthology which will help many bereaved people.

Rawson P

Grappling with grief

Karnac 2005
£13.99

This book is written to assist any adult dealing with great loss, especially the death of someone close to them. It is based on personal experience as well as on her work as a psychotherapist. It provides practical information on the “symptoms” of people facing a loss. She has some interesting views on the different cycles of grief as well as advice to people close to a grieving person.

Schiff H S

The bereaved parent

Souvenir Press 1977
£8.99

This classic text covers a range of experiences of bereaved parents – from young children to adults. It is a little dated and you may not agree with all the sentiments – but it is the breadth of experiences that makes it a potential source of support.

Wallbank S

The empty bed. 2nd edition

Darton, Longman & Todd 2005
£9.95

Using her extensive experience as a Cruse counsellor, Susan Wallbank breaks the conspiracy of silence, and addresses with sensitivity the vast repercussions of losing a sexual partner. Both the practical and the emotional difficulties are explored in depth, as Susan Wallbank deals with those problems which may affect anyone, regardless of age or circumstance – such as the loss of status and security, loneliness, depression and grief – and also the special problems of specific groups.

Wertheimer A

A special scar. The experiences of people bereaved by Suicide. 2nd edition

Brunner Routledge 2001
£19.99

This is an excellent resource for both health professionals and for those who have been bereaved by suicide. The introductory section provides facts and figures about suicide and assesses who are the survivors. The bulk of the book is about the particular aspects of bereavement due to suicide - for example, the search for understanding, facing suicide as a family, and the particular impact on individual family members. Appropriate groupwork and counselling for those bereaved by suicide is considered in the third section. The book has an evidence base, which is provided by 49 people who have been bereaved by suicide, nearly all close family members. The author tape-recorded interviews with these people, and they are each given recognition by the inclusion of their first names as well as the first names of those who died.

Whitaker A (ed)

All in the end is harvest. An anthology

Darton Longman & Todd 1984
£9.99

A book of readings for bereaved people, divided into eight themed chapters. This can provide those involved in bereavement work, as well as bereaved people, with ideas and emotions with which they can identify. It is also used by those involved in funeral services to provide appropriate texts

Woodward J

The lone twin. Understanding twin bereavement

Free Association Books 1998
£18.50

The issue of close attachments in bereavement is especially apt when one considers bereaved twins. The author is a psychotherapist who is herself a bereaved twin. She examines twin loss at different stages in life and makes some theoretical observations in the light of personal experiences. This is a book of interest to those involved in working with bereaved people but will also be of particular interest to bereaved twins - at whatever stage in life they were bereaved - from the womb to old age.