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A review by laural27
The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman
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.