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A review by ksrousseau
Grave Talk by Nick Spalding
5.0
One doesn't expect a book to be insightful about the experience of loss and grief and, at the same time, laugh out loud funny at times. But Grave Talk accomplishes this.
Alice and Ben have both experienced the loss of a family member who died too young. For Alice, it is her husband who died suddenly of a heart attack and for Ben, it is his brother who died of leukemia. Both are struggling in their lives because of their deep sense of loss. At their first very strange meeting in the cemetery (Ben is in a Kermit the frog costume), they found comfort in each others' company. This odd relationship continues one day annually for a decade. Finally, they push each other forward toward a new place in their lives.
The narrative voice shifts at each event from Alice to Ben, so the reader understands the emotional context of each meeting and each conversation. This adds enormous depth to the reader's understanding of how their grief is affecting and often disrupting their lives.
Alice and Ben have both experienced the loss of a family member who died too young. For Alice, it is her husband who died suddenly of a heart attack and for Ben, it is his brother who died of leukemia. Both are struggling in their lives because of their deep sense of loss. At their first very strange meeting in the cemetery (Ben is in a Kermit the frog costume), they found comfort in each others' company. This odd relationship continues one day annually for a decade. Finally, they push each other forward toward a new place in their lives.
The narrative voice shifts at each event from Alice to Ben, so the reader understands the emotional context of each meeting and each conversation. This adds enormous depth to the reader's understanding of how their grief is affecting and often disrupting their lives.