Next Chapter: Grief (Fiction)
Grief is a universal emotion which we experience throughout our lives. Here is a list of fiction books which explore the myriad ways we respond to grief and, in turn, may provide a path for our own journeys. Created by librarians at The Seattle Public Library. (September 2023) Annotations from NoveList, unless otherwise attributed. (Created by the Older Adults Program Manager, September 2023)
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Afterlife
Reeling from her beloved husband's sudden death in the wake of her retirement, an immigrant writer is further derailed by the reappearance of her unstable sister and an entreaty for help by a pregnant undocumented teen.
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A Passage North
After learning of his grandmother’s caretaker’s supposedly accidental death after falling down a well, Krishan makes the journey from Columbo into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral in this fictional account of Sri Lanka’s 30-year civil war.
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The Collected Regrets of Clover
Feeling a stronger connection with the dying than to the living, Clover, a death doula in NYC, has no life of her own until the final wishes of a feisty old woman sends her across the country to uncover a forgotten love story--and perhaps, her own happy ending.
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The Dependents
Feeling adrift after his wife of nearly 50 years passes away, Gene seeks to repair his relationship with his daughter and reflects on the loyalties, betrayals and secrets that shaped the family's ties to another couple.
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Maame
Narrator Maddie Wright is a people pleaser who earns the nickname Maame (“the responsible one”) from her family. While her older brother, James, lives his life as he wants and her mother spends most of her time in her homeland of Ghana, Maddie steps up as the main caregiver for her Parkinson’s afflicted father. (Publishers Weekly)
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What the Fireflies Knew
Told from the perspective of almost 11-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB), this coming-of-age novel follows KB as she is sent to live with her estranged grandfather where she, as everything and everyone changes around her, is forced to carve out a different identity for herself and find her own voice.
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The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World
When Yui loses both her mother and her daughter in the tsunami, she begins to mark the passage of time from that date onward: Everything is relative to March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami tore Japan apart, and when grief took hold of her life.
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Availability: All copies in use
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No One Else
After his grandfather dies and his single mother becomes busy with applying to medical school, Brandon becomes obsessed with Batman and with finding his missing cat, as his Uncle Robbie returns home and tries to help the family overcome their grief.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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This Shining Life
When his larger-than-life father dies of brain cancer, leaving his family in disarray, Ollie, who hasn’t met a puzzle he couldn’t solve, is convinced that his dad left behind a series of clues to the biggest puzzle of all -- the meaning of life.
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The Hero of This Book
After her mother's death, the narrator, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary and even though she wants to respect her mother's nearly pathological sense of privacy, must decide whether chronicling this remarkable life is an act of love or betrayal.
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