The Grief Nurse

The jewels of grief ★★★★☆

Lynx is the Aster family’s grief nurse, responsible for absorbing all of their difficult emotions. They are dependent on each other: Lynx needs the protection of a guardian and the Asters need the status symbol and ease of a grief nurse.

When Sculptor Aster is found dead, Lynx must help Mr and Ms Aster and their three remaining children overcome the loss. But as petty jealousies and dangerous secrets come to light, the body count starts to build up. Something has Mount Sorcha in a deadly grip.

Alongside the family rifts are the struggles for those who are attracted to grief – the dangers of being a Fader – and the lack of freedom and rights of the grief nurses themselves.

This is a beautifully written novel full of lush descriptions which take us deep into a world where grief can take physical form.

A rich fantasy tour de force for fans of Bridget Collin’s novel ‘The Binding’.

A fanatstic read that is beautifully written with a compelling sotyrline and well developed characters. It is full of vivid descriptions and rich imagery and I just couldn't put it down. I also love the front cover

Spoto has come up with a compelling story that I found to be unique. Lynx is a grief nurse, owned by a wealthy family and used to draw grief from her 'owners' to spare them the sorrow they feel. It's a clever format, each person's grief visualised by Lynx like a familiar, be it crows, the ocean, a rose.

Lynx is a likeable character and you route fro her straight away, the family she works for not so much! I found the name choices for her characters a bit odd but it is fantasy so I guess anything goes.

It's a gripping story, with some clever ideas and I wasn't expecting the ending at all. A stunning debut and I can't wait to see what is next for Angie Spoto.

Beautiful written and full of sumptuous, vivid descriptions. The plot slumped a little in the middle but picked up and was an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a really interesting concept which I would never had thought I'd enjoy!

The way grief is explained and explored in this book was really quite beautiful.

Sometimes a novel just grabs you by the title alone and then the blub draws you in- as was the case by The Grief Nurse. Imagine you can have all your sadness and worries removed, never to feel emotional pain. This is the job of Lynx, a grief nurse owned by a rich family, the Asters. When their eldest child is found dead, Lynx must help the remaining members become 'Bright' and insulated from any unpleasant feelings they may feel as a result (this doesn't make them seem any less unpleasant as *people* though...) When the deceased son's flighty wife appears with another grief nurse in tow, Lynx's steady world shatters amongst the secrets, lies and jealousy that the Aster family try so hard to hide.

The best way to describe this novel is sort of a magical realism Cluedo- at times I felt I was reading a novel set in the Roaring Twenties, but if it was also the Capitol in The Hunger Games- with a bit of what felt like Irish-adjacent mythological images as well. It was quite hard to pin down exactly where I was meant to be and that was disorientating (but I think that was the point, as the world in which the novel is set is deeply weird and strange!)

I've seen some comparisons to The Binding, which I don't think is quite right; maybe Mexican Gothic is a more apt comparison, that sort of deeply unsettling feeling you get when you feel as a reader you're not quite on solid ground. I'd recommend it as a great read for those winter-y weekends when all you want to do is curl up with a book and a blanket as the rain thunders down outside.

THE GRIEF NURSE is a beautifully written, slightly unsettling book that captured my attention from beginning to end!

I found the idea of grief nurses - people who can take away your negative feelings and emotions instantly - super interesting! I enjoyed reading about them and their life’s in the book. I found the story truly compelling and unique, and beautifully written.

This was such an interesting novel that I don’t want to spoil anything in my review! Briefly, the plot centres around Lynx who is a Grief Nurse to the Aster family and spends her days taking away their grief to keep them Bright.

The world building in the novel was really excellent and I loved that there weren’t pages and pages of explanation - readers are given snippets of information as the plot moves forward.

What is truly about the novel were the vivid descriptions of the island the family home and the relationship dynamics between the siblings and their parents, as well as that between Lynx and Karina.

Lynx is a Grief Nurse, employed by the Aster family on their island to take away any feelings of Dread, Sorrow, Regret, Grief and leave them always feeling Bright. This is a profession you're born into and it's only the richest in society that can afford this service. Poorer people must live with their Grief and Regret, they can't use a Grief Nurse. Lynx realises she has a decision to make, will she stay with the Aster family or is there another life available to her.

This was a really well written and thought provoking tale about the harder emotions we face - would we choose to take away Grief if we could, knowing that it would also erase the memories of the person we loved, along with the pain? Having spent two years grieving the loss of a close relative this was the book I didn't know I needed! Thank you for my advance copy NetGalley

A modern gothic murder mystery that unfolded like a fantasy version of Succession with the Aster siblings fighting over who will inherit a grief nurse and save the family fortunes. What’s not to love! Spoto’s world building of a space where people who can absorb others’ grief are forced into working for wealthy families is just handled so effortlessly for such a complex concept. I also enjoyed the atmospheric setting of a group trapped on a fancy island retreat by bad weather - very timely for the festive season. My only quibble is that the ending gets a bit rushed and action heavy, leaving me a little bit unsure of what actually happened.

This was such a beautifully told story.

The different descriptions of grief made the story even more wonderful to read.

I could picture Lynx’s inner world and wanted to see it for myself.

The tragic forbidden love story between Lynx and Andromeda hit me right in the feels.

Highly recommend this book and would definitely read more of the authors work.

I don’t think I expected the story that unfolds in this book when I started reading it. Not a bad thing, just a comment, because I did enjoy the book.. So what did I find? This is a story of the rich having a toy to parade and play with; a Grief nurse to remove sorrow and to always look your best. But the stigma of baring a Grief nurse child, and the consequences to the mother are not a game at all. And from that dark revenge will come a visiting! Thank you to Sandstone Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I enjoy a book that gets right in there from the very start, like 'The Grief Nurse'.

Angie Spoto's style makes for a smooth read: her prose is punctuated with shortfire clippy phrases of a few words or more, here and there, to keep her reader's interest, and there's a terseness to the writing that's surprisingly appealing.

Spoto's debut is full of tender little moments, quiet in their craftswomanship. For instance:

'Karina wrapped her fingers around the teacup and blew gently across its surface. White wisps of steam danced in Lynx's direction before fading into nothing.'

We get just enough description when we need to know where we are or what characters are sensing, but for the most part, the novel is gentle with its reader; Spoto's style is full of astute and considered delicacy that speaks of true dedication to style and wordsmithery.

I'm only withholding the final star of five, because - what's probably a point in its favour, really - the book should have been longer! There was certainly room for Spoto to delve deeper into what is an exceptionally original and well crafted conceit. The world she's built is believable and compelling, and I only felt that there were points where more could have been expounded. Is it a bad thing to want more of a book?

This is a title I would certainly re-read. If it reminded me of anything, a comparison might be made with 'The Sin Eater' by Megan Campisi. 'The Grief Nurse' is wonderfully enjoyable; a novel truly to get lost in. I can say I'll wait with eager anticipation for what Angie Spoto publishes next!

My deep thanks to Sandstone Press for an eARC. Citations taken from a galley proof and therefore subject to change.

A gothic literary fantasy, Spoto creates a unique and compelling world in which the absence of grief, and the presence of a grief nurse to remove it from you, is a marker of profound wealth and influence. Concerned with secrets and desire, this book offers a vivid image of grief that is in turns unsettling and electric as the plot, and protagonist Lynx's acceptance of herself, slowly unfolds.

Loved loved loved this story.
It was confusing in some parts particularly at the beginning (still not sure what a faded is either) and the author needed you to just go with it and not fight for complete understanding I felt. So many plot devices going on- it was exhilarating to read. The descriptions of grief were intense and evocative.
Our protagonist lynx is a grief nurse and is able to take feelings of sorrow and grief from the host leaving them ‘bright’ Working for a rich family (after all it’s only the poor who must struggle through their grief) she is equally respected and feared. After a member of the family dies, people gather together and secrets are revealed.

I loved the main character and particularly towards the end of the book found her much more fleshed out though some of the ‘romantic/ physical attraction’ parts seemed a bit YA or thrown in - they weren’t well developed so seemed a little tokenistic.
I would read more by this author for sure.

Thanks to netgalley and to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I did enjoy this exploration of grief and loss in Angie Spoto’s debut novel. She has created a world in which the wealthy and the privileged (not necessarily both) have grief nurses. Distinguished by their white hair, these are people who can see and take others’ grief by means of touching their tokens – the receptacle for their grief. Such people – and they tend to be women – serve aristocratic families and we learn that grief nurses are passed down through families – they are inherited like valuable gems or old paintings

The Grief Nurse is a first person narrative by Lynx, a grief nurse in service to the Asters, a family who value their power and status, but whose old money is no longer as valuable as once it was. But ownership of a grief nurse is still a sign of the highest status and the Asters take every opportunity to put Lynx on display.

As the novel opens the Aster family are holding a wake for their eldest son on their island, Mount Sorcha and have invited the great and the good to attend. Lynx has taken away the grief of Mr and Mrs Aster so they are ‘Bright’ and keen to show off their lack of grief to their acquaintances. It is not just grief that Lynx can take; she also consumes dread and sorrow.

Angie Spoto’s world is full of beautifully named characters and is wonderfully atmospheric and replete with the most gothic imagery. Part murder mystery, part a meditation on the nature of grief, Spoto explores the nature of grief through her characters and contemplates the pros and cons of taking grief away.

Spoto’s descriptions of what happens to a grief nurse when she is taking away a grief and the representation of that action is very well done.

There were aspects I would have liked to see better explained – I did not wholly understand what a fader is, for example, but overall this was a beautifully written and fascinating book with a really innovative and impactful idea at its core.

Lynx is a terrific character. This is her coming of age story as she learns more about her power and how to use it as well as the impact that taking on so much grief has on her. Many of the characters are beautifully queer in a society where this is unexceptional.

Though this is an adult novel, it would not feel out of place in an older Y/A library.

Verdict: Well written with an interesting premise that captures the imagination, The Grief Nurse is fantasy grounded in a very real exploration of the nature of grief.

This haunting historical fantasy-slash-mystery novel is set in an alternate reality, where the pangs and pain of undesirable emotions can be removed – but only for those well-off enough to afford the services of a Grief Nurse. These skilled individuals are ‘kept’, safe but isolated, at the heart of wealthy families such as the Asters, and shared between individuals: when the Asters’ eldest son passes away, their Nurse Lynx is on hand to soothe away the sorrow and anguish felt by the immediate family. As guests arrive for the wake at the secluded island of Mount Sorcha, the Asters’ family seat, it isn’t long before more deaths occur and it starts to look as though something – or someone – is out to wreak havoc within this privileged family unit. The clever concept at the heart of the novel – that grief can be physically removed from an individual – is deftly explored, with frequent meditations on the nature of suffering and loss, and whether it is better to fully experience one’s emotions or have them whisked away. Angie Spoto writes beautifully, with tiny vignettes showing connection between characters that linger in the mind long after the book’s dramatic conclusion, and astonishing descriptions of the otherworldly state that Lynx and her fellow Grief Nurses enter when removing emotion from their ‘owners’. An unexpected and affecting book, with a deeply thoughtful core premise.

For a fairly short book, it felt like there was a lot squeezed within the pages.

I found it hard to get my head around what was happening in The Grief Nurse to begin with, but did find answers to most of my questions within the book.

I adored the atmosphere of this book, it felt like a classic novel, set in the party era of 20s/ 30s aristocracy, but is set in an alternative world where Grief is tangible to some and the ability to 'possess' a Grief Nurse means you'll never need to suffer the various pains again. Not only do you avoid suffering, but you are also one of the elite if you have been able to have one yourself. So as well as the party feel of the rich, we also get a glimpse into the seedier side of the rich and there is a spooky, mysterious element as the reader tries to figure out what's going on and what the risks are.

The novel invites us to consider the possession of humans for the benefit of the powerful and what that means for the humans who happen to be born to serve others.

Obviously, given the title, there is a lot of discussion about grief; is there a benefit to the experience or should we all want rid of it if we could?

I found myself slowly empathising with Lynx as the story goes on, but it took some time for me to connect. There were some lovely Scottish elements without the story being explicitly set in an alternate Scotland; Potato Scones, Shortbread and heather are enjoyable Scots elements. There were also queer quaracters who weren't breaking any kind of stigma to be openly gay, which was comforting to read.

I have a funny feeling I'll be thinking about this book for a while after reading and definitely wonder what came next.