Grief

"The art of losing isn't hard to master," wrote poet Elizabeth Bishop. Perhaps she meant that we will all face loss at some point in our lives. In this collection, we have brought together texts that take up the universal experience of grief.

H Is For Hawk

by Helen Macdonald

Publication year 2014

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Sexual Identity, Death, Grief

Tags Animals, Science & Nature, Grief & Death, Biography

H Is for Hawk (2014) is British author Helen MacDonald’s award-winning memoir about her attempts to train a goshawk named Mabel in the wake of her father’s death. It is a memoir of grief, self-discovery, and the healing power of nature. MacDonald intersperses her descriptions of training Mabel with references to the memoirs of T.H. White, who writes about his own hapless attempts at falconry in the 1930s. The memoir was an instant bestseller and... Read H Is For Hawk Summary

Hollow Fires

by Samira Ahmed

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Friendship, Community

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction

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Home Front

by Kristin Hannah

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Marriage, War, Family, Love, Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Grief, Mental Health

Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Dramatic Literature, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction

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Honey

by Sarah Weeks

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Truth & Lies

Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Children`s Literature, Animals

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Honor

by Thrity Umrigar

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction

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Housekeeping

by Marilynne Robinson

Publication year 1980

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Fate

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Coming of Age, American Literature, Classic Fiction

Housekeeping (1980) is a novel by Marilynne Robinson that follows the upbringing of two sisters, Ruthie and Lucille Stone, in Fingerbone, Idaho, in the 1950s. This is the first novel by Marilynne Robinson. It was awarded the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, an award the author later won for her novel Gilead (2004). Beyond Housekeeping, Robinson is most known for Gilead (2004) and Home (2008). Housekeeping, which has been named... Read Housekeeping Summary

How Far She Went

by Mary Hood

Publication year 1984

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Music, Grief, Family

Mary Hood’s first collection of short stories, How Far She Went, was published in 1984 and won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Southern Review/Louisiana State University Short Fiction Award. This study guide refers to the University of Georgia Press edition published in 1984. Four stories in the collection first appeared in The Georgia Review: “A Country Girl,” “Doing This, Saying That, to Applause,” “Manly Conclusions,” and “Inexorable Progress.” The opening story... Read How Far She Went Summary

How to Be Both

by Ali Smith

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Grief, Love, Memory, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Future, The Past, Self Discovery, Social Class, Justice

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

How to be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith. The narrative explores common threads of grief, identity, and memory from the perspectives of recently bereaved 16-year-old English schoolgirl George and a character named Francescho, inspired by the real 15th-century Italian artist Francesco del Cossa. The book, exploring themes such as The Impact of Grief on Personality, Ambiguity as an Inescapable Feature of Life, and Everyday Resistance to Injustice, was a critical... Read How to Be Both Summary