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In times of grief, finding solace can be quite challenging. While nothing can truly erase the pain of loss, books can offer comfort, understanding, and a sense of connection. I have found that reading provides a way to share and process grief. Storytelling has helped me explore the depths of human emotions, rewarding me with moments of peace. Whether through complex stories or keen insights into the human condition, authors explore grief in their works of fiction and nonfiction. While reading alone cannot erase the pain or heal one immediately, prose can contribute significantly to one’s internal healing process.
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books to help you understand your grief. These books offer fresh perspectives, aiding in comprehending and navigating your journey through healing.
Read our recommendations below.
TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM
AUTHOR: YAA GYASI
GENRE: FICTION
Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behaviour in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family’s loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief—a novel about faith, science, religion, love.
AND AFTER MANY DAYS
AUTHOR: JOWHOR ILE
GENRE: FICTION
During the rainy season of 1995, in the bustling town of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, one family’s life is disrupted by the sudden disappearance of seventeen-year-old Paul Utu, beloved brother and son. As they grapple with the sudden loss of their darling boy, they embark on a painful and moving journey of immense power which changes their lives forever and shatters the fragile ecosystem of their once ordered family. Ajie, the youngest sibling, is burdened with the guilt of having seen Paul last and convinced that his vanished brother was betrayed long ago. But his search for the truth uncovers hidden family secrets and reawakens old, long forgotten ghosts as rumours of police brutality, oil shortages, and frenzied student protests serve as a backdrop to his pursuit.
In a tale that moves seamlessly back and forth through time, Ajie relives a trip to the family’s ancestral village where, together, he and his family listen to the myths of how their people settled there, while the villagers argue over the mysterious company, who found oil on their land and will do anything to guarantee support. As the story builds towards its stunning conclusion, it becomes clear that only once past and present come to a crossroads will Ajie and his family finally find the answers they have been searching for.
In And After Many Days, Jowhor Ile weaves together personal and political loss until, inevitably, the two threads become nearly indistinguishable. This novel is a story of childhood, of the delicate, complex balance between the powerful and the powerless, and a searing portrait of a community as the old order gives way to the new.
ALL THAT IT EVER MEANT
Author: BLESSING MUSARIRI
Genre: FICTION
Mati’s family is reeling from the death of Mati’s mother. Her Baba has drawn into himself, her sister Chichi is rebelling, and her young brother Tana is desperate for love and normalcy. When Chichi pulls her worst stunt yet, Baba uproots the family from their home in England for an extended camping holiday in their native Zimbabwe. Along for the trip is Meticais, a fabulously attired gender-neutral spirit—or ghost? or imaginary friend?—who only Mati can see and converse with. Guided by Meticais’s enigmatic advice and wisdom, Mati must come to terms with her grief and with the difficulty of living between two cultures, while the family must learn to forge their way in a world without their monumental mother. All That It Ever Meant is a young adult novel that delivers a nuanced and unforgettable story of grief, love, and family.
Cassava Republic Press is proud to announce the launch of their inaugural $20,000 Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize dedicated to exceptional works by Black women. Deadline: 30th June 2024. Learn more here.
AN UNUSUAL GRIEF
Author: YEWANDE OMOTOSO
Genre: FICTION
How do you get to know your daughter when she is dead? This is the question which takes a mother on a journey of self- discovery. When her daughter Yinka dies, Mojisola is forced to stop running away from the difficulties in their relationship, and also come to terms with Yinka the woman. Mojisola’s grief leads her on a journey of self-discovery, as she moves into her daughter’s apartment and begins to unearth the life Yinka had built for herself there, away from her family.
Through stepping into Yinka’s shoes, Mojisola comes to a better understanding not only of her estranged daughter, but also herself, as she learns to carve a place for herself in the world beyond the labels of wife and mother. Yewande Omotoso’s novel is a bold and unflinching tale of one woman’s unconventional approach to life and loss. Buy the book here.
LIKE WATER LIKE SEA
AUTHOR: OLUMIDE POPOOLA
GENRE: FICTION
It is the ten-year anniversary of her sister’s death, and Nia is grappling with her grief, and balancing the complicated relationships weaving through her life. There is smart and sexy Temi; Melvin, her teenage love; and her new yet intimate friendship with Rahul and Crystal. But looming large over everything is her mother SuSu, whose battle with bipolar disorder continues to cast a profound shadow over Nia. Like Water Like Sea is a poignant tale of self-discovery and resilience, sexuality and motherhood, and falling apart to become truly whole. Buy the book here.
GHANA MUST GO
AUTHOR: TAIYE SELASI
GENRE: FICTION
Ghana Must Go tells the story of the Sai family, whose seemingly good life crumbles in a single evening. Kweku Sai, a Ghanaian father who became a highly respected surgeon in the US. His Nigerian wife, Fola, is the beautiful homemaker left abandoned in his wake. Their eldest son, Olu, is determined to reconstruct the life his father should have had. The twins, seductive Taiwo and acclaimed artist Kehinde, are both brilliant but scarred and flailing. Their youngest, Sadie, is jealously in love with her celebrity best friend. All of them are sent reeling on their disparate paths into the world until, one day, tragedy spins the Sais in a new direction. This is the story of a family torn apart by lies and reunited by grief—a family absolved, ultimately, by that bitter but most tenuous bond: familial love.
Ghana Must Go interweaves the stories of the Sais in a rich and moving drama of separation and reunion, spanning generations and cultures from West Africa to New England, London, New York, and back again. It is a tale of a family—the simple, devastating ways in which families tear themselves apart, and the incredible lengths to which they will go to put themselves back together.
THESE LETTERS END IN TEARS
AUTHOR: MUSIH TEDJI XAVIERE
GENRE: FICTION
While chasing a rogue football, Fatima crosses paths with Bessem and the instant attraction between the two propels them into a life-changing romance. Despite an atmosphere of threat due to the criminalization of same-sex relationships in their home country of Cameroon, Fatima and Bessem persevere in living out their love. All seems to be going well, until one day tragedy strikes, and Fatima disappears.
Thirteen years later, Bessem is now a university professor, keeping her sexuality secret but bonding with her equally-closeted friend Jamal and the queer community around her. But Fatima still haunts her. A chance encounter with people from her past, pushes Bessem to finally go after the truth of her lover’s whereabouts. Told mostly through unsent letters, These Letters End in Tears, powerfully charts all the different ways that love, despite all odds, can persevere.