Sometimes someone else's words help us recognise what we're feeling. Sometimes reading is the last thing we want to do.
This is a selection of memoirs, poetry and reflections we've found thoughtful and useful, with different places to begin depending on what you're looking for.
Two books from the collectionSome people want practical explanations; others prefer a memoir or a single poem. You might read a whole book, dip in and out, or decide that none of these is right for now. A recommendation is simply an invitation, not a prescription.
Browse all ten books, or choose a subject below. Some titles appear in more than one category.
Showing all 10 books
Megan Devine
A direct challenge to the idea that grief is something to fix or get over. For anyone who is tired of being told how they ought to feel, or who wants to support someone without trying to make their pain disappear.
About this book→Sasha Bates
When Sasha Bates was widowed unexpectedly, her experience as a psychotherapist did not spare her from the bewilderment of grief. Her memoir moves between what she was feeling and what she had learned about loss.
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Anna Lyons & Louise Winter
Our founder Louise and end-of-life doula Anna Lyons explore what working with death has taught them about living. Part practical guide, part collection of human stories; it looks beyond bereavement to the conversations we often put off.
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Oliver Sacks
Four short essays written by Oliver Sacks as he approached the end of his life. A reflective book about gratitude, mortality and paying attention to the life we have lived, rather than a step-by-step guide to grief.
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Jason B. Rosenthal
After the death of his wife Amy, who had written a much-read essay about their marriage, Jason Rosenthal reflects on their life together and the difficult, changing shape of life without her.
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Kate Spencer
An unsentimental, sometimes very funny account of losing a mother in your twenties. Kate Spencer writes candidly about the awkward conversations, changed relationships and ordinary days that follow an enormous loss.
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Michel Faber
A collection of poems written after the death of Michel Faber's wife. Tender, angry and unguarded in places, it is a book about a particular love rather than a general explanation of grief.
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Edited by R. V. Bailey & June Hall
An anthology of contemporary poetry about love, absence and remembrance. A useful volume to dip into when you're looking for a few lines that speak to your experience, or considering a reading for a funeral.
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Joan Didion
Joan Didion's precise, searching account of the months after her husband's sudden death, written while their daughter was seriously ill. A book about memory, disbelief and the mind's attempts to make sense of catastrophe.
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Zoë Clark-Coates
A personal account of baby loss, together with 90 days of supportive reflections. Written for people grieving after miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death, and those who want to understand what they may be going through.
About this book→We All Know How This Ends, co-written by Louise Winter and Anna Lyons, is part of this collection. It deals with grief, but also with the practical and philosophical questions around death, dying and living.
Reading can be good company, but it isn't a substitute for support from other people. Our Grief Support Directory brings together specialist charities, groups and services for different kinds of bereavement.