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victoria_catherine_shaw's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
shelleyrae's review against another edition
2.0
The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman is a story of love, grief and letting go. Rachel was just thirty six years old when her heart stopped beating. She was happily married to Max and a loving mother to five year old Ellie, now she floats in a void of white mist given intermittent views of her husband and daughter struggling to live without her.
The idea of a ghostly narrator is a not a new one and the story offers no real surprises. It begins to feel a bit repetitive after a while, for Max and Ellie it's one step forward, two steps back, for Rachel - endless longing and a predictable cycle of guilt, resentment and despair.
I think it was just that characters were all just too perfect - Rachel was the perfect wife and mother, Max the perfect husband and father, and Ellie, who is just too perfectly adorable for words. Oh and Eve, Eve is perfect too. Their grief often seemed too neat, too contained and Max always seemed to be able to find the right words to comfort Ellie.
I did empathise with Rachel, after all I am a mother and I would be horrified to be in her place, but for the unwary reader, particularly one recently bereaved I don't think The Dead Wife's Handbook would offer much comfort. The lessons she learns about love, life and death are true enough but cliched.
The Dead Wife's Handbook has received a plethora of positive reviews, I just wasn't feeling it.
han_cat's review
3.0
Probably should start with a disclaimer, I do not have children and I'm quite annoyed with the general feeling currently in society that you are not a family unless you have children. I would think this does effect my opinion on the book.
Book is well written and emotive. But for large parts of the book I felt this was more of knowing what to write/how to direct the plot/what situations to include to pull at the heartstrings rather than being truly genuine. Also the storyline felt too easy, one big argument or dramatic obstacle to overcome would have made it more realistic for me.
But I might just be a grumpy old maid .... !
Book is well written and emotive. But for large parts of the book I felt this was more of knowing what to write/how to direct the plot/what situations to include to pull at the heartstrings rather than being truly genuine. Also the storyline felt too easy, one big argument or dramatic obstacle to overcome would have made it more realistic for me.
But I might just be a grumpy old maid .... !
laurapatriciarose's review against another edition
5.0
Originally posted on: http://lauraslittlebookblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-dead-wifes-handbook-by-hannah.html
I'm not sure I even know how to begin to describe this incredible, amazing, poignant novel by the super talented Hannah Beckerman. I have been looking forward to reading this one for ages and to have the chance to read was brilliant.
When we lose someone, we each go through different stages of the grieving process, but what about the grieving process of the deceased? How do they cope seeing their loved ones lives continue without them? This novel explores that idea with Rachel, as she has to watch powerlessly as her husband Max and her daughter Ellie have to cope without her, and how they manage to move on from the devastation of losing her.
This managed to feel close to home, but without it being difficult to read. I felt the loss, anger and resentment of all the characters in the different stages of grieving and what was happening around them. I could see each characters point of view and completely understand how they were feeling. It was almost as if I was going through exactly what they were experiencing and my emotions and opinions of characters changed so drastically throughout the book.
So compelling and immersive was this book, I really felt like one the characters in it and I found it extraordinary how much I learnt about life and myself whilst reading this. I have heard that this book has the potential to change people's lives and I can definitely see why. I know that I have taken some strong life lessons away from this.
I loved how completely different this was to anything I have ever read. It was completely unique and I think that was part of the reason I enjoyed this so much. There was also so much love in this story, particularly surrounding Rachel's daughter Ellie. It just made the novel all the more emotional and heartbreaking in places. I know that it is a novel that I will cherish.
Deeply moving, poignant and thought provoking, this is one of those must read books of 2014!
I'm not sure I even know how to begin to describe this incredible, amazing, poignant novel by the super talented Hannah Beckerman. I have been looking forward to reading this one for ages and to have the chance to read was brilliant.
When we lose someone, we each go through different stages of the grieving process, but what about the grieving process of the deceased? How do they cope seeing their loved ones lives continue without them? This novel explores that idea with Rachel, as she has to watch powerlessly as her husband Max and her daughter Ellie have to cope without her, and how they manage to move on from the devastation of losing her.
This managed to feel close to home, but without it being difficult to read. I felt the loss, anger and resentment of all the characters in the different stages of grieving and what was happening around them. I could see each characters point of view and completely understand how they were feeling. It was almost as if I was going through exactly what they were experiencing and my emotions and opinions of characters changed so drastically throughout the book.
So compelling and immersive was this book, I really felt like one the characters in it and I found it extraordinary how much I learnt about life and myself whilst reading this. I have heard that this book has the potential to change people's lives and I can definitely see why. I know that I have taken some strong life lessons away from this.
I loved how completely different this was to anything I have ever read. It was completely unique and I think that was part of the reason I enjoyed this so much. There was also so much love in this story, particularly surrounding Rachel's daughter Ellie. It just made the novel all the more emotional and heartbreaking in places. I know that it is a novel that I will cherish.
Deeply moving, poignant and thought provoking, this is one of those must read books of 2014!
laural27's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my goodness. I have just turned the last page of this book and need to get my feelings down right now!
The Dead Wife’s Handbook is a treat from start to finish and I cannot begin to explain the emotions I have experienced throughout.
Rachel is our protagonist who is slightly different from most: she’s dead. She died in her early thirties and left behind her husband, Max, and beautiful daughter, Ellie. Rachel is granted, by some higher force, the chance to see the world she left behind, often stepping out of her brand new ‘white’ world and being able to bear witness to how her family and friends cope with life without her. As Rachel spends time watching the world carry on without her, she goes through a whole host of emotions, not yet ready to come to terms with her untimely death. Over the course of the novel we follow Rachel, being privy to her thoughts and feelings as she goes through seven stages of grief and watch her come to terms with the unlucky hand fate dealt her.
Now, when I first started reading the book, I struggled with it. I couldn’t sympathise with Rachel and I found her to be quite selfish. As I was reading, I began to wonder how I would behave in Rachel’s situation. This was hard, mainly because I don’t have a husband or child, but also because imagining you are dead is not easy! I personally felt that if I died and left behind a husband and child that I would want them to be happy and I’d want my husband to fall in love again and my daughter to find someone to fill my shoes, yet Rachel didn’t feel this way at all: this is where we clashed. I felt she was very self-absorbed and selfish to be feeling the way she did, but actually, maybe she had every right to feel that way.
As the book progressed I found it easier to read. Rachel began to mellow and I started to appreciate her a lot more and understand her feelings. By the end of the book I wanted to squeeze her so tightly; I felt so proud of the journey she had been on and I wanted her to know that someone was reading her story and totally in awe of her. Beckerman has created such a stunning protagonist that goes on perhaps the greatest journey I’ve ever read about. The change Rachel goes through was just stunningly beautiful.
Hannah’s writing is divine. It has the most beautiful tone to it and her command of the English language is just stunning. I have never seen such gorgeously worded sentences before! Every page felt like I was reading a piece of art and the artist had toiled for years making sure each word was in precisely the right place.
I cannot begin to recommend this book enough. Whilst there are some dark themes of death and mourning, the overall feeling you take away from the book is one of complete renewal. It’s life-affirming, comforting and will leave you wanting to live everyday as if it were your last.
A modern masterpiece.
The Dead Wife’s Handbook is a treat from start to finish and I cannot begin to explain the emotions I have experienced throughout.
Rachel is our protagonist who is slightly different from most: she’s dead. She died in her early thirties and left behind her husband, Max, and beautiful daughter, Ellie. Rachel is granted, by some higher force, the chance to see the world she left behind, often stepping out of her brand new ‘white’ world and being able to bear witness to how her family and friends cope with life without her. As Rachel spends time watching the world carry on without her, she goes through a whole host of emotions, not yet ready to come to terms with her untimely death. Over the course of the novel we follow Rachel, being privy to her thoughts and feelings as she goes through seven stages of grief and watch her come to terms with the unlucky hand fate dealt her.
Now, when I first started reading the book, I struggled with it. I couldn’t sympathise with Rachel and I found her to be quite selfish. As I was reading, I began to wonder how I would behave in Rachel’s situation. This was hard, mainly because I don’t have a husband or child, but also because imagining you are dead is not easy! I personally felt that if I died and left behind a husband and child that I would want them to be happy and I’d want my husband to fall in love again and my daughter to find someone to fill my shoes, yet Rachel didn’t feel this way at all: this is where we clashed. I felt she was very self-absorbed and selfish to be feeling the way she did, but actually, maybe she had every right to feel that way.
As the book progressed I found it easier to read. Rachel began to mellow and I started to appreciate her a lot more and understand her feelings. By the end of the book I wanted to squeeze her so tightly; I felt so proud of the journey she had been on and I wanted her to know that someone was reading her story and totally in awe of her. Beckerman has created such a stunning protagonist that goes on perhaps the greatest journey I’ve ever read about. The change Rachel goes through was just stunningly beautiful.
Hannah’s writing is divine. It has the most beautiful tone to it and her command of the English language is just stunning. I have never seen such gorgeously worded sentences before! Every page felt like I was reading a piece of art and the artist had toiled for years making sure each word was in precisely the right place.
I cannot begin to recommend this book enough. Whilst there are some dark themes of death and mourning, the overall feeling you take away from the book is one of complete renewal. It’s life-affirming, comforting and will leave you wanting to live everyday as if it were your last.
A modern masterpiece.
dilema's review
2.0
This was boring. It could have been inventive and novel, but it was boring. There was very little conflict. If I'd known the ending would be as predictable and corny as I could have myself guessed, I wouldn't have read; alas, I read in the misguided hopes that the ending would be surprising and unique.
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review
5.0
*I received a free ARC of The Dead Wife's Handbook from Edelweiss in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*
ARC received on September 24th 2014
WOW, The Dead Wife's Handbook is a 37-year-old woman's journey of grief, after her own death. Dealing with her feelings of having left her husband and child behind, and all of the stages of grief that the living usually live through after the death of someone close to them.
Full review to come soon.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
ARC received on September 24th 2014
WOW, The Dead Wife's Handbook is a 37-year-old woman's journey of grief, after her own death. Dealing with her feelings of having left her husband and child behind, and all of the stages of grief that the living usually live through after the death of someone close to them.
Full review to come soon.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews