This book is Malcolm Duncan at his best. Written from first hand personal, but also pastoral, experience, Duncan tackles a subject which many don't talk about in the church - death and grief. I would recommend this book firstly to those in church leadership/pastoral care, but also those who are struggling through a season of grief, because it will remind you that Jesus is with you.

Wise, gentle and full of compassion, I loved this look at grief and how the christian faith doesn't banish grief - but does explain it and enable the grieving to love even when the person they love has died. Rich in theology and great writing.

I work within the realm of bereavement, loss and grief so I am always interested when a new book on the subject & experience is released. 
Written extremely sensitively and in a manner in which the author’s personal and professional experience is evident. 
We too often shy away from the subject of death, dying and bereavement and this reflects our experience of and reaction to grief, which is a completely natural reaction so I welcome another well written, informative and supportive book on the subject, written without the feeling  of it being taboo.

Last year my 5 yo daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia. This has plunged our family of 7 (my husband, myself, and our five kids) into various stages of grief as she began the 2 1/2 year chemo treatment.  I became very involved in the Pediatric Cancer community in my area and have relationships with moms of cancer kids who are fighting, are in remission, and who have lost their battle.  This has forced me to examine grief and trauma in myself, my family, and in others.  And the harsh truth is that our culture gives us no guidelines on how to grieve and on how to support those who are grieving. We need more knowledge on how to experience loss and suffering and sorrow.

This book focuses on grief in general, but with a heavy emphasis on coping with the illness and death of a loved one. The author is a Christian Pastor who not has dealt with deaths within his own loved ones and also helps his church navigate those losses as well, as their leader.

I am not a particularly religious person. A lot of this book relayed biblical stories to how we can better process grief.  I didn't find this off-putting at all, but it should be noted that that is a large part of the book.  Regardless of my personal connection with the Bible stories being less than another reader's might be, this book had a profound effect on me and my knowledge of processing grief. The author writes beautifully and gave voice to many symptoms of loss and grief that I have experienced, but thought I was alone in.  

This book would be an amazing gift for a Christian friend who has dealt with a recent loss. It provides incite, a road map for dealing with grief, and extremely helpful information on how to nurture others in their losses as well.  I cannot recommend it enough!

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.