Book Review: The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing

The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing by Mary-Frances O'Connor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/23/b...

The author narrates the audiobook, available on Amazon. It’s not easy to listen to, as grief is a raw emotion. How O’Connor peels back the layers, exposing every aspect of the grieving process and how it impacts every organ and system in our body, can be a trigger if you are navigating through grief yourself. Therefore, read or listen at your own pace.

O’Connor puts into words the neuroscience behind grief explaining how the body responds to it by sharing a multitude of medical information on the body by detailing the impacts it will have on our immune system, liver, lungs, brain, and our hearts providing the reader with an understanding of what they may be experiencing, feeling, but are unable to put into words themselves as they grieve which can be give them a sense of reassurance in the “I am not alone” this is normal, others also go through this and survive. She shares her personal experience of loss and the physical and mental symptoms she suffered, which is both genuine and relatable.

This book resembles Van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score. Both offer a great wealth of information, and while they are not easy to read since the topics aren’t light and breezy, they are worth the read or listen. O’Connor is thorough and knowledgeable, and her openness makes her easy to relate to, which makes this book a 3.5-star one.



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