I put off reading Finding a Way for a few days after I’d bought it. A whole collection about grief – wouldn’t that be too much? Just depressing?
Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Finding a way to deal with grief, not to hide it or to pretend to ‘get over it’ drives this story. It’s a superb collection of flashes, told through the eyes of parents who’ve lost a daughter, a brother who’s lost a sister, a man who’s lost his young wife, each character bringing a new perspective to how we interpret and deal with grief.
There is great sadness, but there is also love, anger, laughter, frustration, regret – all the emotions we feel when we lose someone so special. And in the end there is a way – a way to remember and celebrate the life lost.
Diane Simmons has a very light touch given such a hard subject. There is nothing melodramatic, nothing overwrought here. There is an honesty in these beautifully written stories, and while, yes, some made me cry, others brought humour and some a new understanding of how to deal with grief.
It’s an excellent collection and one I know I will read again.