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Title details for The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen - Available

The Grief of Others

by Leah Hager Cohen
Pam Ward
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Is keeping a secret from a spouse always an act of infidelity? And what cost does such a secret exact on a family?


The Ryries have suffered a loss: the death of a baby just fifty-seven hours after his birth. Without words to express their grief, the parents, John and Ricky, try to return to their previous lives. Struggling to regain a semblance of normalcy for themselves and for their two older children, they find themselves pretending not only that little has changed, but that their marriage, their family, have always been intact. Yet in the aftermath of the baby's death, long-suppressed uncertainties about their relationship come roiling to the surface. A dreadful secret emerges with reverberations that reach far into their past and threaten their future.


The couple's children, ten-year-old Biscuit and thirteen-year-old Paul, responding to the unnamed tensions around them, begin to act out in exquisitely—perhaps courageously—idiosyncratic ways. But as the four family members scatter into private, isolating grief, an unexpected visitor arrives, and they all find themselves growing more alert to the sadness and burdens of others—to the grief that is part of every human life but that also carries within it the power to draw us together.


Moving, psychologically acute, and gorgeously written, The Grief of Others asks how we balance personal autonomy with the intimacy of relationships, how we balance private decisions with the obligations of belonging to a family, and how we take measure of our own sorrows in a world rife with suffering. This novel shows how one family, by finally allowing itself to experience the shared quality of grief, is able to rekindle tenderness and hope.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 30, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781452624624
      • File size: 325602 KB
      • Duration: 11:18:20

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Perhaps the only thing that can help one endure grief is the understanding that the feeling may one day lessen in intensity, its edges smoothing with time. While the characters in this audiobook are far from that awareness, caught as they are in the torment of having lost loved ones, the listener has Pam Ward's performance to shine a soft light. Ward is consistently gentle throughout the painful turns of this novel, her voice empathetic and appropriately wistful. Her skilled phrasing spans time shifts and voices that range from those of toddlers to adults with nary a hesitation. The only time the listener may be pulled from this engrossing novel is to marvel at its affecting writing. Altogether, this is a remarkable audiobook. L.B.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 18, 2011
      Cohen's fourth novel is a meditation on loss, ssuffering, and secrets. The death of John and Ricky Ryrei's third child pushes the family to the brink of disintegration. The children, "Biscuit" and Paul, 10 and 13, deal in different ways: Biscuit creates private rituals and Paul, overweight and bullied, clings to his only friend, Baptiste, who also faces loss. Ricky's confession that she kept knowledge that might have saved their baby to herself pushes John away, but also results in a surprising shift in their "marital relations." The arrival of John's illegitimate daughter, Jess, brings hope to the family, but the secrets she carries will only further complicate matters. Cohen aptly illustrates the capacity to suffer privately beneath a normal exterior, succeeding best when exploring Ricky's many conflicts. Cohen seems to suggest that our inability to communicate leaves us struggling in our own private, tortured worlds. Yet, paradoxically, when feelings are finally articulated, the novel flounders. Still, this is an ambitious novel offering insight into the rift between the public and the private, and illuminating the many ways in which we deal with tragedy.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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