“Grief, when it comes, is nothing like we expect it to be,” Joan Didion reflects in startling honesty.
In Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, the author processes the grief of losing his 18-year-old son in gradients of deep veracity. He reflects that sometimes sadness is “a cloud that comes along and covers me up.” It is a brilliant, honest, alarmingly relatable, illustrated book that is fitting for Mental Health Awareness Month. It is also a beautiful resource for my community who has sustained its fair share of losses since I’ve moved in.
Maria Popova shares excerpts from the book, as well as, erudite reflections and literary connections here. It is well worth the read for those who have experienced significant loss, and for those who are near to someone who’s suffered such grief. So, well, all of us.