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77th out of 102 books
—
58 voters
Comfort: A Journey Through Grief
by
Ann Hood
In 2002, Ann Hood’s five-year-old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep throat. Stunned and devastated, the family searched for comfort in a time when none seemed possible. Hood—an accomplished novelist—was unable to read or write. She could only reflect on her lost daughter—“the way she looked splashing in the bathtub ... the way we sang ‘Eight Days a...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
May 17th 2008
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published May 12th 2008)
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"I believe she would want me to miss her with every cell in my body. And that is how much I ache for her. My arms hurt from not holding her on my lap. My nose aches from not smelling her little-girl sweat and powder and lavender-lotion smell. My eyes sting from not seeing her twirl in ballet class. My ears strain every morning for her calling "Mama!" when she wakes up. My lips reach for her sticky kisses. At night I search for her."
"Or perhaps that is love: a leap of faith, a belief in the impos...more
"Or perhaps that is love: a leap of faith, a belief in the impos...more
In a way I hated and loved this book. I hated it because I really didn't like the author. I had an easier time sympathizing with her in the beginning when it was just a mother losing a daughter and what a terrible and tradgic loss it was... however as the book progressed and she talked more about herself and her family I got pretty agitated.
I loved that it was something I could talk to Heather about. I didn't realize how strongly I felt about adoption until I had a discussion with her. Adoption...more
I loved that it was something I could talk to Heather about. I didn't realize how strongly I felt about adoption until I had a discussion with her. Adoption...more
This is the story of a mother whose 5yr old daughter dies suddenly from a rare strep infection. The book was published 6 years after her daughter's death. I picked it up at the library because the book jacket mentioned knitting as part of a journey through grief, and I have found my own solace in crocheting. The book is somewhat disjointed, jumping back & forth in time. I had no idea that author had a step-daughter until chapter 9 (of 10). Mother's Days and birthdays and anniversary's of the...more
Anyone who has read Ann Hood's works knows she's excellent at her trade.
COMFORT is not her usual offering, but it's a must read, especially for anyone who has lost a child.
Grief following the death of a child is said to be the ultimate grief and Hood testifies to that in this precious book.
In 2002, her five-year-old daughter contracted a virulent strain of strep and within 48 hours, little Grace died. For a long time Hood couldn't write and understandably so.
At someone's suggestion she started k...more
COMFORT is not her usual offering, but it's a must read, especially for anyone who has lost a child.
Grief following the death of a child is said to be the ultimate grief and Hood testifies to that in this precious book.
In 2002, her five-year-old daughter contracted a virulent strain of strep and within 48 hours, little Grace died. For a long time Hood couldn't write and understandably so.
At someone's suggestion she started k...more
In Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, there's a chapter on finding gratitude through remembering the fragility of life. To do this, Rubin reads a series of memoirs on loss. When I started reading Comfort, I asked myself again and again why someone would choose to read such a sad, sad book about the sudden loss of Ann Hood's 5-year old daughter. To feel relieved it didn't happen to them? To appreciate the small moments with their own daughters? My reasons were like Gretchen Rubin's - to reme...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I didn't feel this book was a real "comfort" for grief, until I realized that it was comforting to the 'author' not necessarily those reading it. She worked her way through her grief by writing her thoughts, some of which were really good, but most were thoughts and memories of her daughter.
Favorite quotes:
"Grief is not linear. People kept telling me that once this happened or that passed, everything would be better. Some people gave me one year to grieve. They saw grief as a straight line, with...more
Favorite quotes:
"Grief is not linear. People kept telling me that once this happened or that passed, everything would be better. Some people gave me one year to grieve. They saw grief as a straight line, with...more
Comfort: A Journey Through Grief by Ann Hood
★★★★ ½
In 2002 acclaimed author, Ann Hood, lost her 5 year old daughter to a rare strain of strep that was in the blood. One day she was playing and enjoying time with her daughter – 36 hours later her daughter would die. This is the memoir of her tragic loss and her dealings with it over a few year period.
This memoir struck home. No parent wants to lose their child, regardless of age or situation; it’s a parent’s worst nightmare. This was a short and...more
★★★★ ½
In 2002 acclaimed author, Ann Hood, lost her 5 year old daughter to a rare strain of strep that was in the blood. One day she was playing and enjoying time with her daughter – 36 hours later her daughter would die. This is the memoir of her tragic loss and her dealings with it over a few year period.
This memoir struck home. No parent wants to lose their child, regardless of age or situation; it’s a parent’s worst nightmare. This was a short and...more
Ann Hood tells the story of grief over the course of several years after losing her five year old daughter to an odd strand of strep. Grace, her daughter, was a vibrant young child that fell sick and within 48 hours was dead. The sheer shock alone of the event left Ann and her family in a state of desperation over where to go and what to do next. Absolutely inundated with floods of emotion, she details how tiny details or events in life would send her spiraling into a state of disrepair without...more
Shortly after my son was killed, I read Joan Didion's " A Year of Magical Thinking". It was amazing in its description of loss that cannot be shared. However, I must say that Ann Hood has expressed the loss of a child better than anyone I have ever had the discussion with about the personal, singular, life altering experience. I have always said that I only know two women who can understand. Both have lost a child. I also knew two women when I was very young, and it was not until I lost my son t...more
Comfort was not the book I was looking for, nor was it really about comfort in the end. While the book ends on a positive note, the vast majority of the book is about the gut-wrenching twists and turns of loss - a worthy, worthy topic, especially because I'm sure there are so many other people out there in Hood's shoes, who need exactly this book . . . but for someone looking to make meaning out of loss, it's not exactly the right fit. This is less a book about comfort and more about the impossi...more
This is a beautiful yet very sad memoir about the sudden death of Ann’s five-year-old daughter, Grace, from an aggressive form of strep throat. Told with integrity and honesty, Ann reveals just how tough it was and still is for her, four years later, to cope with her great loss.
Grace was a beautiful, precocious little girl who was in kindergarten and learning, of all things, to speak Chinese!! Her older brother, Sam, just adored her and the two of them got along like two peas in a pod.
Ann and he...more
Grace was a beautiful, precocious little girl who was in kindergarten and learning, of all things, to speak Chinese!! Her older brother, Sam, just adored her and the two of them got along like two peas in a pod.
Ann and he...more
I have been reading Ann Hood lately. Many of her books have a theme of grief. This book explains why. Ann Hood's five year old daughter died of a horrible form of strep that took this healthy, darling Grace to death within 36 hours. Unbelievable but true. Every parent's nightmare. Ann Hood told this story very bravely in a free streaming way. It was a difficult book to read although I couldn't put it down.
I thank Ann Hood for sharing her story.
I fell in love with Grace. She was a charming, sma...more
I thank Ann Hood for sharing her story.
I fell in love with Grace. She was a charming, sma...more
This is a book that no one wants to read because it addresses the unthinkable: the death of a child. Not only the death of a child but the loss of a 5 year old. Having a son and daughter-in-law who spend time in Afghanistan with their jobs in the Army, I think about the possibility of death often. But this book was so raw and honest. It gave me a tiny slice of insight into what it might be like to lose a child and I only hope that I never have to go through what Ann Hood did but I respect her so...more
*The coexistence of grief and joy*
As writer Ann Hood unfortunately discovered, there are no words to express the excruciating pain that overwhelms a grieving mother following the sudden tragic death of her five-year-old baby girl. Similarly, words from others ("She is in a better place." "Time heals.") fall short in easing the pain. Ann's memoir poignantly portrays her journey through her devastating loss. Although Ann learns that time can never completely heal such a deep wound and that it is...more
As writer Ann Hood unfortunately discovered, there are no words to express the excruciating pain that overwhelms a grieving mother following the sudden tragic death of her five-year-old baby girl. Similarly, words from others ("She is in a better place." "Time heals.") fall short in easing the pain. Ann's memoir poignantly portrays her journey through her devastating loss. Although Ann learns that time can never completely heal such a deep wound and that it is...more
Heartbreaking. Not to be read before bed. Not only did I lie awake thinking of all I could lose in my life, but I dreamed of loss as well.
It has been a long while since I have read a book that affected me in such a visceral way. Her writing about the loss of her child... I don't know how to say it. I felt as though I was in the hospital room with them, weeping by their sides.
I read the book over the course of a day and a half, but I think I would reccommend smaller doses. It is so very emotional. The chapters lend themselves nicely to a more leisurely pace, I think.
Very authentic. If I were teaching a class on pastoral care, or o...more
I read the book over the course of a day and a half, but I think I would reccommend smaller doses. It is so very emotional. The chapters lend themselves nicely to a more leisurely pace, I think.
Very authentic. If I were teaching a class on pastoral care, or o...more
A heartbreaking story of a writers tragic loss of her daughter & the spiral descent through grief. Of how Ann Hood found solace & distraction through knitting. Of how she had looked & searched for the answers to her questions without finding much solace & success. All through out the book, I kept thinking if she only knew that death is not the end, that there is a way to reunite her with her little girl & hold her again after this life. I hope & pray somewhere along the w...more
One hundred sixty pages worth reading. And the title says it all. Here is a writer whose livelihood-- writing -- was lost for months and months after the sudden death of her five year old daughter Grace.
Luckily, for us all, eventually the author was able to set words in motion. What does grief look like? What does grief look like for this particular person, a mother? While each human facing the death of a loved one will have his or her own response, few of us are writers and mothers with the...more
Luckily, for us all, eventually the author was able to set words in motion. What does grief look like? What does grief look like for this particular person, a mother? While each human facing the death of a loved one will have his or her own response, few of us are writers and mothers with the...more
A deceptively tiny memoir that holds a staggering and unfathomable grief- the death of Ann Hood's five year old daughter Grace. Grace contacts a form of Strep that despite a desperate struggle in the hospital and an almost recovery, she dies from. I wouldn't say that the writing here is transcendent, because in a vital way it does not stay aloft of the experience but submerge itself into it. Therefore it's a raw, deeply upsetting and bleak tale. I admire the writer's honesty and was glad that I...more
I wanted to read this book because of the Modern Love essay Ann Hood submitted to the NYT in 2006. I remember that it was my favorite Modern Love essay; it was also the most heart wrenching one I have seen yet.
Not being a parent and not even having any plans to be one in the future or ever, I don't think I'd have any idea what it is to grieve for a child, especially a very young one, had I not read Hood's ML essay and then her subsequent memoir.
I'm not really an overly sentimental person, thoug...more
Not being a parent and not even having any plans to be one in the future or ever, I don't think I'd have any idea what it is to grieve for a child, especially a very young one, had I not read Hood's ML essay and then her subsequent memoir.
I'm not really an overly sentimental person, thoug...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I chose to read this book because a friend said Hood writes about knitting to alleviate grief, a special interest of mine. At first I was a bit disappointed because that topic was only mentioned in passing. As I got deeper into this brief book (short enough to read in a four hour plane ride), I came to appreciate the honest sharing of a mother's pain in losing a young child. Beautifully written, heartbreaking, and honest...it gave me some insight into the grief of my friends who have lost childr...more
Feb 21, 2013
Elizabeth Davis
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
autobiography-biography-memoir,
non-fiction
Heartbreaking. Back when my daughter's health was touch-and-go I stumbled upon Ann Hood's book, The Knitting Circle, and it was beautiful and tragic. Doing some research on the book afterwards I discovered that the loss that she wrote about in that book, the loss of a child, was actually that of her own, fictionalized. This book is the autobiographical account of the loss of her 5 year old daughter, Grace, and the grief her and her family go through afterwards. Short read. Powerful.
May 26, 2008
Iowa Girl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
memoir readers; those grieving for the loss of a child
Shelves:
memoirs-general
I just finished. This was the second time I had picked up the book to read and this time, I read until the book was finished. Reading Ann Hood is like hearing her speak into your ear. A gentle but strong voice that is comforting but a little scary, too, because it is such a powerfully quiet voice. I attended a book group at an independent bookshop that sponsored Ann's visit to promote "The Knitting Circle." Ann Hood in person is marvelous, meetable, totally human and very smart. I guess the chap...more
Apr 03, 2013
Jessica
added it
I read this deeply honest and beautiful memoir last night. Hood's brave book about the sudden death of her young daughter. In its simplicity, the narrative does not attempt to answer the large questions about death, loss, and the grieving process. Instead, Hood describes the matter of fact dailiness of putting one foot in front of another (or not), and the compassion she finds in the years after the death. I did indeed find this book a comfort and a small treasure.
I cannot imagine the sorrow of losing a child. My heart goes out to the author. I honestly do not know how I would handle that situation and pray that I never will. However, there were things I didn't get. How can you hate God but not believe in him? God didn't kill her child, an awful virus did. Hating the strep virus would have plainly made more sense to me. This book clearly got me thinking so kudos for that. I've enjoyed this author's fiction and her willingness to share such an intimate exp...more
I read a few pages of this book in the library and just had to take it home. It is the memoir of a woman who's five-year-old daughter died suddenly of a rare type of strep. Heart-breaking and real, yet, not depressing, it is a lovely written memorial to the daughter she loved and knew so well. If one only reads the prologue, an essay on the lies people tell the grieving, it is worth your visit to the library.
Now that I've finished this book, one that I picked up and read in small doses because it was too painful to read all at once, I can say that it eats at all the fears you have as a mother. While I never experienced the pain of losing a child, both of my children were in dangerous situations, my oldest had spinal meningitis at three months of age, and my youngest contracted blood poisoning from a dog bite when she was seven. In both cases my husband and I experienced the frenzy of doctors running...more
Definitely had a sense how the death of her daughter affected her. In the beginning she was existing day to day with her grief overshadowing everything. There just didn't seem to be any answers as to why her little girl died. She wanted somebody to blame or to be angry with ...but who? When she & her husband decide to adopt it's like a beacon of hope leading the way to a life of living with their daughter's death but never forgetting her. Poignantly written and you could feel the turmoil Ann...more
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Ann Hood was born in West Warwick, Rhode Island. She grew up with stories of her father's travels around the world during his 20 years in the Navy. These stories inspired her to become a flight attendant for TWA after receiving her BA in English from the University of Rhode Island. She lived in Boston and St. Louis before moving to New York City, where she attended graduate school at NYU in Americ...more
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“Grief is not linear. People kept telling me that once this happened or that passed, everything would be better. Some people gave me one year to grieve. They saw grief as a straight line, with a beginning, middle, and end. But it is not linear. It is disjointed. One day you are acting almost like a normal person. You maybe even manage to take a shower. Your clothes match. You think the autumn leaves look pretty, or enjoy the sound of snow crunching under your feet. Then a song, a glimpse of something, or maybe even nothing sends you back into the hole of grief. It is not one step forward, two steps back. It is a jumble. It is hours that are all right, and weeks that aren't. Or it is good days and bad days. Or it is the weight of sadness making you look different to others and nothing helps.”
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20 people liked it
“Even now, there are still days so beautiful, I almost believe in God. (132)”
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17 people liked it
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updated Dec 23, 2011 08:39am