How to Get to Grips with Grief

40 Ways to Manage the Unmanageable

By: James Withey

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

This book is for anyone who has lost someone. It may have been recently, or it may have been years ago, but still it stings like it was yesterday.

James Withey has known the grief beast since he was five, when his dad died, and it has followed him ever since. In his twenty years supporting people with their own grief, as a counsellor and social care worker, he has helped others work through their despair and reconcile the injustice of grief.

With his trademark humour and warmth, he provides forty ways to help you live with and manage your grief no matter what stage you're at. It provides comfort for when it all gets too much, ideas for when you feel at a loss for what to do and more than a laugh or two to balance out the sadness.

©2022 James Withey (P)2023 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"I loved this book so much. It was just so accessible, refreshing and practical. James has an irreverent ability to capture the often absurd realities of grief. I would happily gift this book to my closest friend if they were struggling with grief. James' writing is just so full of humour, compassion and depth. So engaging and real. He really wants to share the stuff that has helped him over the years. I found this book to be a generous gift for those folks looking to get to grips with and grow around their grief. A practical, productive and positive resource that will have you smiling through the tears and wishing you could meet James for a cup of coffee as you know you would both like and respect him." (Julie Stokes, OBE, author and founder of Winston's Wish)

"Beautiful, relatable, funny and true. This is a book that won't try to 'fix' you but attempts to fix the societal expectations we have around grief. James validates how it feels to exist in the world in the aftermath of loss and offers practical advice while avoiding all the usual platitudes and clichés. A book to be picked up and revisited time and time again. A true comfort for anyone experiencing grief." (Natasha Sholl, author of Founding, Wanting)

"I cried as I read it. But as James says, crying is a good thing. As is moving, shouting, screaming and holding on to hope - and laughing too in those moments of dark humour. The sentence I will treasure is: 'Each life makes a splash, the ripples spread outwards'. This is the best book about the everyday experience of coming to terms with grief that I've read. I understand what grieving means, and so does James. Abso-bloody-lutely." (Linda Gask, writer and psychiatrist)