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Book Review of Here After: A Memoir

Here After: A Memoir
VolunteerVal avatar reviewed on + 648 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Here After is the raw and heartbreaking memoir of a grieving young widow. Amy Lin deeply loved her husband Kurtis, and one day while on a long run, he suffered a medical emergency and died. Less than two weeks later, still reeling from this shocking loss, Amy faced a life-threatening health crisis of her own.

To deal with these devastating crises, the author's therapist encouraged her to journal; her memoir is taken from this writing. It's a very honest account of her first year of grief told through vignettes. The memoir also provides insights into meaningfully assisting a friend or family member on their grief journey.

With the print book's petite size, lots of white space on the page, and 275 page-length, this can be read quickly, but the emotional depth had me pausing frequently. The sparse prose is almost like poetry with its economy of words, chosen deliberately. I really appreciated the author's powerful interview with Cindy Burnett on the Thoughts From a Page podcast where I learned more about the title, cover art, format, and other aspects.

Thank you to Amy Lin for her honesty in sharing her deeply personal experience. I hope it brings her continued healing.