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A review by knitter22
Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene
5.0
My husband's family lost their oldest son to malignant melanoma when he was 29-years-old, and this tragic event served to divide the family's story sharply into before-Jim-died and after-Jim-died. Every one of the remaining four siblings changed, some more markedly than others, and as you would expect, the real changes were most apparent in Jim's parents. They rarely talked about it, but I wish they were both still alive because I would give them this eloquent memoir, Once More We Saw Stars.
It's the story of how Jayson Greene and his wife Stacy lost their two-year-old daughter Greta in a horrible, completely random accident, but it's also the story of their grieving and going on. I had heard Jayson Greene interviewed and decided that I couldn't read the book because of how much sadness I thought it would contain, but Greene is a gifted writer. He manages to convey how absolutely heartbroken, bereft, and overtaken by grief he and his wife are, and yes, there is plenty of sadness, but his writing is so beautiful that there is also plenty of honesty, hope, and resilience. I especially appreciated how much of an observer he could still be, even in the depths of his grief, and how respectful and accepting he was of the different ways he and his wife expressed their grief. I think Once More We Saw Stars may well be among the top five books I read this year.
I am the reminder of the most unwelcome message in human history: Children - yours, mine - they don't necessarily live.
It's the story of how Jayson Greene and his wife Stacy lost their two-year-old daughter Greta in a horrible, completely random accident, but it's also the story of their grieving and going on. I had heard Jayson Greene interviewed and decided that I couldn't read the book because of how much sadness I thought it would contain, but Greene is a gifted writer. He manages to convey how absolutely heartbroken, bereft, and overtaken by grief he and his wife are, and yes, there is plenty of sadness, but his writing is so beautiful that there is also plenty of honesty, hope, and resilience. I especially appreciated how much of an observer he could still be, even in the depths of his grief, and how respectful and accepting he was of the different ways he and his wife expressed their grief. I think Once More We Saw Stars may well be among the top five books I read this year.
I am the reminder of the most unwelcome message in human history: Children - yours, mine - they don't necessarily live.