Books that may help The following list contains a few suggested book titles worth reading. By no means does it encompass everything that's available. There's a huge range out there which you can explore when you feel ready to tackle the subject in more depth.

In this article

The grieving process Dealing with loss Children and young adults When parents die

Losing a partner Death of a baby or child Sudden or violent death

Terminal illness Practical issues Literature from organisations

On Death and Dying
E. Kubler-Ross
ISBN: 0415040159
Examines death and dying with a sense of compassion that goes beyond the patient's disease.

You'll Get Over It: The Rage of Bereavement
Virginia Ironside
ISBN: 0140236082
Agony aunt Virginia Ironside takes an honest and refreshing look at the complex emotional reactions surrounding death in this practical guide for the bereaved.

Journey Through Grief: a Guide to Living with Bereavement
Edward James Richard Box, Tracey Cusick and Edward Box
ISBN: 0954260104
This invaluable guide to coping with the grief of a loved one gives an insight into the mixed feelings involved.

Moving Beyond Grief: Lessons from those who have Lived through Sorrow
Ruth Sissom
ISBN: 0929239091
Ruth Sissom combines her own experience of loss and her background as a registered nurse to offer support, hope and encouragement.

Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life
Colin Murray Parkes
ISBN: 0140257543
A classic study into bereavement including discussions of the many forms of loss.

A Time to Grieve: Meditations for Healing after the Death of a Loved One
Carol Staudacher
ISBN: 0062508458
Help with working through and resolving any outstanding issues after a death.

Companion through the Darkness
Stephanie Ericsson
ISBN: 0060969741
A look at the psychological effects of grief and how you can work through the associated feelings.

Seven Choices: Taking the Steps to a New life after Losing Someone you Love
Elizabeth Harper Neeld
ISBN: 0937897906
Elizabeth Harper Neeld shares her experiences of loss in a compassionate yet down-to-earth way.

Aspirations
Derek Dobson
ISBN: 0952448610
An anthology of poems, quotations and proverbs with photographs - from a Cruse counsellor.

Healing Grief: a guide to Loss and Recovery
Barbara Ward
ISBN: 0091778395
A practical guide to help those going through all kinds of grieving processes.

Help is at Hand: a resource for people bereaved by suicide and other sudden, traumatic death
Department of Health
Downloadable PDF
A guide that examines the practical and emotional issues for people bereaved by sudden death.

Life After Loss: A Personal Guide Dealing with Death, Divorce, Job Change and Relocation
Bob Deits
ISBN: 1555611893
How to acknowledge your loss, whether it be loss through death, breakdown of a long-term relationship or a career - and deal with it.

The Tenth Good Thing about Barney
Judith Viorst
ISBN: 0689712030
A look at death from the perspective of a child whose cat has died.

Grief in Children: A Handbook for Adults
Atle Dyregrov
ISBN: 185302113X
Helps adults to know how to respond appropriately to the bereaved child's needs.

Healing your Grieving Heart for Teens: 100 Practical Tips
Alan Wolfelt
ISBN: 1879651238
Practical tips and suggested activities to help teenagers through their pain.

Sibling Bereavement: Helping Children Cope with Loss
Ann Farrant
ISBN: 0304702056
A psychologist looks at how parents can help surviving children after a bereavement. With case studies.

When Parents Die: Learning to Live with the Loss of a Parent
Rebecca Abrams
ISBN: 0415200660
This is aimed at readers of all ages and considers the continuing importance of the dead parent and the critical role of the surviving parent.

When Parents Die: A Guide for Adults
Edward Myers
ISBN: 0140262318
This guide is aimed specifically at adults who have been bereaved.

Diary of a Grief
Peter Woods
ISBN: 1850722072
Peter Woods recounts his grieving process when his wife dies after 53 years of marriage. Nominated for a Cruse award.

Alone in Colin's Cottage
June Sutton
ISBN: 0646392042
An account of how one woman came to terms with the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband.

When Your Partner Dies
Mary Mortimer
ISBN: 0704343908
Written from her own experiences of bereavement as well as the experiences of others, this is a sensitive guide to dealing with bereavement.

A Grief Observed
C.S.Lewis
ISBN: 0571066240
A classic account from the writer's overwhelming struggle to come to terms with his wife's death. Filmed as Shadowlands.

Gay Widowers: Life After the Death of a Partner
Micheal Shernoff
ISBN: 156023105X
A collection of first person accounts of the loss of a gay partner.

Death of a baby or child

Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived
Maria Housden
ISBN: 0007155670
A mother's story of her remarkable 3 year old's battle with cancer. A celebration of life.

When a Baby Dies: The Experience of Late Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Neo-Natal Death
Nancy Kohner
ISBN: 0415252768
With stories and quotes from parents who've written about their experiences of losing a baby at different stages of pregnancy - or shortly after birth.

No Time for Goodbyes
Janice Harris Lord
ISBN: 0934793689
Experiences from people who've lost a love one to a sudden or violent death.

A Special Scar: The Experience of People Bereaved by Suicide
Alison Wertheimer
ISBN: 0415220270
This book looks at the stigma surrounding suicide and offers support and practical help to surviving friends and family.

At Home with Terminal Illness: A Family Guidebook to Hospice in the Home
Michael Appleton and Todd Henshell
ISBN: 0132998432
This book is aimed at those caring for terminally ill patients in the home.

Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness
Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold
ISBN: 0195116623

A guide for those living with terminal illness and their carers. With case studies.
Armfuls of Time: The Psychological Experience of the Child with a Life-Threatening Illness
Barbara M. Sourkes
ISBN: 0415132932
The psychological experiences of terminally ill children are portrayed here, for those concerned with their care.

Dealing with Terminal Illness in the Family
Heather Lehr Wagner
ISBN: 0791066924
Help with coping skills during a loved one's illness. For those aged nine to12 years.

Before I Say Goodbye
Ruth Picardie
ISBN: 0140276300
Journalist Ruth Picardie died of breast cancer in 1997. This text brings together her correspondence, personal accounts from her family - and pieces from the newspaper column where she recorded the progress of her illness.

C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too
John Diamond
ISBN: 0091816653
John Diamond gives a blow-by-blow account of the progress of his cancer which is honest, informative and humourous.

PWA
Oscar Moor
ISBN: 0330351931
Journalist Oscar Moore charts the ups and downs of his life as a Person With AIDs.

Men and Grief: A Man's Guide to Recovering from the Death of a Loved One
Carol Staudacher
ISBN: 093498672X
Explores men's responses to the death of a loved one and offers support and suggestions for helping their grieving process.

What You Really Need to Know about Cancer
Dr Robert Buckman
ISBN: 0330336282
Explains the nature and causes of some of the most common forms of cancer - including diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Cancer and Emotion
Jennifer Barraclough
ISBN: 047198597X
Addresses the concerns of cancer patients, their families and professional healthcare workers.

Living with Cancer
Dr Jeffrey Tobias and Kay Eaton
ISBN: 0747554102
The book that support the BBC TV programme.

Cancer: what every patient needs to know
Dr Jeffrey Tobias
ISBN: 0747519935
A resource to help cancer patients and their families cope with the emotional trauma of cancer.

Getting Well Again
Dr O. Carl Simonton, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and James L. Creighton
ISBN: 0553122681
A Step-by-step, Self-help Guide to Overcoming Cancer for Patients and their Families.

What to Do When Someone Dies: How to Deal with the Practical Arrangements That Have to Be Made After a Death (A Which Consumer Guide)
Paul Harris
ISBN: 0852028997
This book guides and supports the reader through the practical processes associated with a bereavement, such as who does what and how to arrange a funeral.

Guide to Funerals and Bereavement
Sam Weller
ISBN: 0749430575
Sam Weller offers practical information on the industry of funerals, burials, cremations and much more.

Funerals without God: a Practical Guide to Non-religious Funeral Ceremonies
Jane Wynne-Willson
ISBN: 090182514X
A guide for those who are faced with the need to organise a ceremony themselves and for Humanists who are thinking of becoming officiants.

The New Natural Death Handbook
Nicholas Albery
ISBN: 0712605762
For those who decide to go it alone, this book explains how to arrange an alternative funeral - from woodland burials to how to construct a coffin.

In Sure and Certain Hope: Prayers and Readings for Funerals and Memorial Services
Paul Sheppy
ISBN: 1853115142
A choice of prayers, reading from poems from the scriptures, literature and popular culture.

Cruse Bereavement

The following books and leaflets are available from Cruse:

• Easing Grief for Oneself and Other People - Amber Lloyd
• Lifeline in Grief - Roy Bolitho
• The Art of listening - Margaret Torrie
• When Your Parent Dies - Caroline Morcom
• My Mother Died - Susan Wallbank
• My Father Died - Susan Wallbank
• After the Death of Someone Close
• Coping with a Major Personal Crisis
• Bereaved by Suicide - Patrick Shannon

But this is just a small selection. They have much more - including several publications for children. See their entire list at: www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk/publications.htm.

You can order through their website at: www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk - or call them on 020 8940 4818

Carers National Assocation

The Carers National Association has teamed up with Samaritans to produce two booklets, which are available free of charge from Carers National Association, 20-25 Glasshouse Yard, London ECIA, Tel: 020 7566 7626.

When Caring Becomes a Crisis - looks at the emotional stresses faced by carers. It addresses the wide spectrum of different and often conflicting feeling of carers. The combination of stress and the physical demands on a carer can be overwhelming and may lead to a crisis. The booklet emphasises the importance of recognising signs of stress and ways of coping. It also offers advice on taking a break and how to get financial, practical and emotional support, including counselling.

When the Person You Care For Has Died - offers support and practical advice to bereaved carers. It looks at the intense and turbulent emotions of grief and encourages carers to look after themselves. It also covers the practical and legal matters of bereavement and signposts carers to useful agencies.

Childline

Childline have a report, I can't Stop Feeling Sad - by Sheila Cross. Further details on their website at: www.childline.org.uk/.

They also have an information sheet, When Someone Dies, at: http://www.childline.org.uk/pdfs/info-whensomeonedies.pdf that can be printed out.

The National Council for Palliative Care

The NCPC has a comprehensive publications list dealing with palliative care strategies and offering guidance on clinical and ethical issues. A selected list is below:

• Supporting Bereaved Students in Primary and Secondary Schools
• Early Bereavement
• Palliative Care in Care Homes for Older People
• Positive Partnerships
• Priorities and Preferences for End of Life Care
• The House of Commons Health Committee Inquiry into Palliative Care
• Palliative Care for Adults with non-malignant diseases: Developing a National Policy

For a full list of publications visit the NCPC website or call them on 020 7697 1520.

Online Reading

Royal Marsden NHS Trust
Website: www.royalmarsden.org/patientinfo/booklets/index.asp.
Produces a series of patient information booklets, currently 35, on cancer, its treatment and coping with side effects.

Terminal Phase of Cancer
Website: www.cancerbacup.org.uk/info/dying/dying21.htm.
U.K Cancerbackup site - this recent booklet answers many difficult questions about the last weeks of life.

John Diamond's Cancer Diary - selected articles
Website: www.times-archive.co.uk/JohnDiamond/index2.html.
Moving, eloquent diary of journalist John Diamond - tells the story of his life with throat cancer. Insights into family life and the rollercoaster of emotions.

BBC Online: Ivan Noble Cancer Journal
Website: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3153099.stm.
BBC News Online science and technology writer Ivan Noble was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Since then until his death in February 2005 he has shared his experiences in an online diary.