Bereavement Support Resources

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

Elizabeth McCracken

"This is the happiest story in the world with the saddest ending," writes Elizabeth McCracken in her powerful, inspiring memoir. A prize-winning, successful novelist in her 30s, McCracken was happy to be an itinerant writer and self-proclaimed spinster. But suddenly she fell in love, got married, and two years ago was living in a remote part of France, working on her novel, and waiting for the birth of her first child.

This book is about what happened next. In her ninth month of pregnancy, she learned that her baby boy had died. How do you deal with and recover from this kind of loss? Of course you don't--but you go on. And if you have ever experienced loss or love someone who has, the company of this remarkable book will help you go on.

The Baby Loss Guide

Zoë Clark-Coates

Grief can leave us feeling alone and lost in the world, not knowing where to turn for help. And yet grief is one of the few certainties in life - it is impossible to experience love without suffering loss. Leading grief expert Zoë Clark-Coates examines the different losses we may endure in our lives, and provides the much-needed support that helps you navigate your own path through loss.

The Worst Girl Gang Ever: The ultimate guide to recovery after miscarriage and baby loss with guidance from experts in mindfulness, grief, therapy and relationships.

Following pregnancy loss, it can feel like you’ve forgotten how to speak and need to learn a new language. You can tell your story to a room full of people but if no-one speaks this new language, they won’t understand. They will try but ultimately, they won’t fully grasp what you are saying. This is us. This is our new language. It is a language built from pain, and it is a language we need to teach others. Welcome to our gang. We are so, so sorry that you’ve found yourself here. It’s the gang you’d never chose to join but it is also a community chock-a-block full of kind, supportive, warrior women just like you. We are here to tell you that you are entitled to grieve, and that your grief is not disproportionate to your loss. We are here to open up the dialogue around miscarriage, so we don’t perpetuate the shame, judgement and isolation so many of us feel following pregnancy loss. We are here to equip you with knowledge, tools and guidance to support and help you in whatever way you need. Let’s get talking. Let’s get sharing. Let’s start empowering and supporting one another. No more shame, no more taboo, no more silence.

A Heart That Works

Rob Delaney

This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process, by the star of the Amazon Prime series Catastrophe . In 2018, Rob Delaney’s two-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor. A Heart That Works  is Delaney’s intimate, unflinching, and at times fiercely funny exploration of Henry’s beautiful, bright life and the devastation of his loss – from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind. Profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest, Delaney’s memoir offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.

Books to support children through grief

The Invisible String

Patrice Karst

Even though you can't see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and know that you are always connected to the ones you love. Does everybody have an Invisible String? How far does it reach? Does it ever go away? This heart-warming picture book for all ages explores questions about the intangible yet unbreakable connections between us, and opens up deeper conversations about love. Recommended and adopted by parenting blogs, bereavement support groups, hospice centres, foster care and social service agencies, military library services, church groups, and educators, The Invisible String offers a very simple approach to overcoming loneliness, separation, or loss with an imaginative twist that children easily understand and embrace. 

The Places We Meet

Lyndsay Lang (From the blog After Evalyn)

Journey with Hedgehog in The Places We Meet as he discovers new and beautiful ways to remember his loved ones. From feathers to rainbows – and candy coloured skies – this book gently explores the many ways in which our love carries on long after the last goodbye.