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A review by lizaroo71
Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir of Life and Love After Unimaginable Loss by Jayson Greene
4.0
I first heard about this book when I listened to an interview with Greene on Just the Right Book podcast (How Do We Write about Grief? - the podcast page is no longer available). Greene's two year old daughter, Greta, dies after she is hit in the head by a piece of brick that falls off the side of a building. Greta is sitting with her grandmother when this happens.
As a parent, it is inexplicably difficult to fathom the loss of a child. Even more difficult to imagine processing that grief and turning it into a book. But this book doesn't steep itself in melancholy; rather Greene gives a peek into his coping process and how it gets him to the other side.
This book reminds me of [b:An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination|3291844|An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination|Elizabeth McCracken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437749017l/3291844._SY75_.jpg|3328337]. In this book, McCracken gives birth to a stillborn baby. She writes in an honest and pragmatic manner. Greene's book is written in a similar fashion. This doesn't mean there isn't emotion present. There is, but you aren't overwhelmed with the heaviness of the loss. Rather, we walk through the loss with Greene and he shows us the other side of grief. Not the absence of grief, for it will always be tugging at the edges, but rather that the incomprehensible can and does get conquered.
As a parent, it is inexplicably difficult to fathom the loss of a child. Even more difficult to imagine processing that grief and turning it into a book. But this book doesn't steep itself in melancholy; rather Greene gives a peek into his coping process and how it gets him to the other side.
This book reminds me of [b:An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination|3291844|An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination|Elizabeth McCracken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437749017l/3291844._SY75_.jpg|3328337]. In this book, McCracken gives birth to a stillborn baby. She writes in an honest and pragmatic manner. Greene's book is written in a similar fashion. This doesn't mean there isn't emotion present. There is, but you aren't overwhelmed with the heaviness of the loss. Rather, we walk through the loss with Greene and he shows us the other side of grief. Not the absence of grief, for it will always be tugging at the edges, but rather that the incomprehensible can and does get conquered.