Memoirs can be hit-and-miss for me. I’m not a fan of self-aggrandizement, or self-help flavors. But give me a memoir that peels back the layers and looks at life with an unflinching gaze, and I am fully in!

Jessica Waite has unapologetically tackled the realities of losing a life partner, and discovering he was not the person that she believed him to be. She had opportunities to bash her husband, as she discovered infidelity and financial mismanagement. And yet, she doesn’t. Instead, she acknowledges the anger and heartache at every step, while giving her husband the grace he deserved due to his mental health concerns and stress. I appreciated her willingness to share the ugly manifestations of anger, since I think we all want the chance to let people know exactly how they hurt us. But it was when she opened herself to realizing the stresses that her husband had placed on himself, and that she had unwittingly reinforced, that I felt my soul crack just a bit. 

I will be recommending this book to coworkers and clients, as we all work together in processing grief in the context of mental health concerns. 

Many thanks to the Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for offering me an eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. I anticipate hearing great things about this book when it publishes on July 25.