The Blue Skies of Autumn: A Journey from Loss to Life and Finding a Way out of Grief

by Elizabeth Turner

On September 11th 2001, 32-year-old Elizabeth Turner was working at Channel 4 when news broke of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Surrounded by TV screens, like her colleagues, she watched as the horror unfolded. But for Elizabeth, the atrocities were all the more painful - her husband Simon was at a meeting in the restaurant at the top of the towers as the planes crashed into them. Elizabeth was seven months pregnant with their first child. As the destruction unfolded, and Simon did not call, Elizabeth's world crumbled, and she spiralled into an abyss of grief more painful than most of us can imagine.
This immensely moving memoir packs a powerful emotional punch, and hooks the reader from the first page. The author eloquently describes how she had to hit rock bottom before she could start rebuilding a life for herself and her young son William. That she was able to recover at all is testament to the power of the human spirit. But more than this, Elizabeth has forged a completely new life and career and is now living what she calls her 'ultimate life'. Her story offers hope that there is a way through the worst experiences - not with quick-fix solutions but by moving deep within yourself to bring about complete healing and recovery.

Genres: Roman

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(3) 9/11 memoir

Reviews

[Noha El-Shami · Rating 5 out of 5]

توفي عنها زوجها في هجمات 11 سبتمبر 2001 وهي في شهرها السابع لأول طفل لهما، فقدت توازنها، تزحزحت ثقتها في كل شيء، امتلأت بمشاعر عميقة من الحزن والأسى، وبعد سبع سنوات من الحادثة تقرر أن تكتب من أجل ولدها وتخليدا لذكرى زوجها ولتخبرنا كيف يمكن للحزن والأسى والموت أن يتحولوا إلى طاقة من التفاؤل والأمل والحياة


لم تكن أيا من مشاعرها التي عبرت عنها في الكتاب غريبة علىَّ فقد سبق وأختبرت أغلبها في ظروف مختلفة، الفارق أنها في الوقت الذي أحتاِجت فيه لجلسات متتالية من (الريكي) نجحت جلسة واحدة أن تحول شعوري العميق بالحزن والأسى والألم إلى حالة من التوازن الرهيب لا أنا حزينة ولا أنا سعيدة

على الرغم من كون الكتابة لا تدين بدين معين إلا أنها أثناء أشد لحظات حياتها ألما كانت تتوجه إلى السماء دعاء وطلبا للمساعدة

برضوا الفطرة تغلب



ـــــــــــــــــــــ
The city of New York was dealing with the death, not the injured. "Elizabeth Turner"

[Veronique Van Bilsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mooie beschrijving van de emoties en de evolutie van de schrijfster. Hele fijne ideeën.
Ik houd totaal niet van de Nederlandse vertaling, die ik saai en clichématig vind.

[Lihle Ngwenya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm usually not one to read motivational books. I love fiction as I love to escape reality, but Elizabeth Turner's The Blue Skies of Autumn being my first motivational book, I'd have to describe it as exceptional.

It taught me a lot of things about loss, mourning and grief - although I haven't really lost anyone close to me, but I feel as though I'll have a better understanding and perception once this happens.

great book, eye-opening and really motivational that one can start over with their lives after going through what she experienced.
I cried, I smiled, I laughed - One hell of a roller coaster ride but definitely worth it!

[Birte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega schoon boek, over het verlies na 9/11 en hoe Elizabeth na een 7 jarige rollercoaster de gebeurtenis accepteert en verder gaat!

[Juliet Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Experience of pregnant UK woman widowed by 9/11.
A compelling book, read in its entirety over the course of one evening.
Her grief is poignantly expressed- from the sense of unreality as events unfold on the other side of the world; to the see-sawing of hope that her husband is still alive and acceptance that he is dead; to the fury of shopping for baby equipment without her husband.
The book conveys the raw pain of grief, the dark thoughts and torture, and where grief almost crosses to insanity.

I know grief isn't a competition but I did feel she had it 'easy' on many counts!!! Giving birth at the Portland, living in a big house in Muswell Hill, a huge cast of family and friends, a full time maternity nurse for a year, 3 different bereavement counsellors, celebrity friends buying ALL her baby stuff . It's almost a luxury to get through your grief in this style- many of us are also juggling terrible money problems, losing homes and being unable to afford to feed and clothe our children, never mind holidays. The lack of money for most widows with young children is crippling and denies you the opportunity to climb out of your misery.

The spiritual element - the dreams, the signs etc are an interesting element. Not what everyone believes but I think those events are very thought provoking.

[marise · Rating 2 out of 5]

while it was an interesting story, i only liked the part where the kid was older and began asking questions. didnt like the part where she was like: "i had these weird feelings when i was at the place of his death years ago, like i already knew something was gonna happen" Also, she describes how she feels like his death made her a better person, and how she couldnt see the reason it happened, but now she could. i was like, woman it is okay to say that something terrible happened and that your life was destroyed, you dont have to romanticize your experience for your book. it just felt a little bit fake.

[Annemieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had tears in my eyes while reading. Not because it is sad all the time, but the way this author describes her journey of life. She is a mother and wife who lost her husband during 9/11.

The 9/11 part is just a smal part of the book. This book focusses on peoples strenght to overcome such a horrific thing. It was not commercial like i thought it would be. Like: i lost somebody during 9/11 and i can as well get some money out of it in writing a book. That's absolutely NOT the case in this book!

Elizabeth Turner writes in such an honest way that you just have to keep reading without making it too 'heavy'. I have much respect in how she coped with such a loss!

A fast read.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book actually deserves 5 stars.
I'm only rating it 4, because of two things:
*at the beginning, there was a certain kind of "I expected this was going to happen"-athmosphere. I do believe all the other coincidences, but this somehow bothered me.
*The author uses a very inspiring quote about peace, but it's overused through the story. It would have meant even more if she only used it one time.

Furthermore I think this is a very grippy story. You really start to feel for the main character and everyone who's around her.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes "true-story" books or people who are going through a mourning period.

I read it in one day.

[Chia Chin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An honest, unpretentious account. Some parts tugged at my heartstrings & the closing chapter made me cry.

[Annemieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review of the dutch translation of this book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its really a good book
Once u started you won't be able to stop