192 books
—
117 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “A Manual for Heartache” as Want to Read:
A Manual for Heartache
The wise and inspiring new book from the bestselling author of The Last Act of Love.
When Cathy Rentzenbrink was still a teenager, her happy family was torn apart by an unthinkable tragedy. In A Manual for Heartache she describes how she learnt to live with grief and loss and find joy in the world again. She explores how to cope with life at its most difficult and overwhelm ...more
When Cathy Rentzenbrink was still a teenager, her happy family was torn apart by an unthinkable tragedy. In A Manual for Heartache she describes how she learnt to live with grief and loss and find joy in the world again. She explores how to cope with life at its most difficult and overwhelm ...more
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
A Manual for Heartache,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about A Manual for Heartache
Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
Firstly , i wanna say thank you...
Thank you Cathy for this gift which is dedicated to that one person out of four.
Publishing this takes such a courage and you really are a survivor.
I used this book as a guide to my wandering mind and O boy... it helped.
and surely i WILL reread this....
I Highly Recommend this book to everyone who thinks that they are broken
or sensitive. The pain that is felt by a kid who lost his toys and a king who lost his kingdom is the same....someone told me this.. and i ...more
Thank you Cathy for this gift which is dedicated to that one person out of four.
Publishing this takes such a courage and you really are a survivor.
I used this book as a guide to my wandering mind and O boy... it helped.
and surely i WILL reread this....
I Highly Recommend this book to everyone who thinks that they are broken
or sensitive. The pain that is felt by a kid who lost his toys and a king who lost his kingdom is the same....someone told me this.. and i ...more
It's not always easy to tell our stories. Sometimes they're complicated and don't fit into a neat, straightforward narrative. Sometimes we're scared we won't be believed or understood. Sometimes we're too ashamed. Often we don't realise that we are not the only one feeling the way we do, or who has experienced things that seem too dark and messy to put into words. The strange thing is that just acknowledging all of this can come as a relief, and I felt that relief as I read the opening chapter o
...more
A Manual for Heartache is a wonderful read, because it is like having a kind, comforting and compassionate friend in book form, one who listens with understanding and without judgment. I am so very grateful to the author for writing this book, for sharing her experiences and her highs and lows, for writing so honestly and frankly about pain, loss, depression and the struggle to get back up and continue on. It's a beautiful book too in terms of how it has been put together, with decent sized font
...more
It is hard to articulate feelings, especially when we're consumed by them or see that they're weighing heavily on the people we love. For anyone who has ever been lost for words there is this little book. Cathy Rentzenbrink has given us something powerful, tender, and completely disarming here. 'A Manual for Heartache' it may be, but it also feels like a survival guide for life.
Cathy’s affecting debut, 'The Last Act of Love', explored a personal grief. Here, she has distilled numerous fraught y ...more
Cathy’s affecting debut, 'The Last Act of Love', explored a personal grief. Here, she has distilled numerous fraught y ...more
Like warm, wise advise from a good friend, this is a great read. Bringing on occasions both a smile of recognition and tears to my eyes, I found it to be helpful and simply kind. Recommended!
Life hurts .... yes, it does. Yes, it bloody well does, and often. Cathy Rentzenbrink begins her book with those two words, and wonders why we are surprised that life hurts us. I like to think we are constantly surprised each time life takes a great big bite out of us because, on the whole, we want to believe that life it great, and fun and full of wonderful things. And, yes, it is, but when it decides to turn against us, it hurts so much, and that hurt is often overwhelming, and hard to deal wi
...more
This book was everything I needed in few pages .
It felt like a cozy cuddle .
It felt like a cozy cuddle .
This is quite simply a special book. I urge anyone who has experienced a hardship, sadness, loss, grief or period of anxiety or darkness to read this book. It is a little book of light. Honest, powerful, kind, thought-provoking and calming. I found this book to be rather amazing.
...it also mentions how to defeat Dementors which you know, it's pretty awesome.
A brilliant read - one I'd recommend for every bookcase.
...it also mentions how to defeat Dementors which you know, it's pretty awesome.
A brilliant read - one I'd recommend for every bookcase.
Everybody needs to keep a copy on the bookshelf and next time you need comfort, hope or a sense of understanding it will be there waiting.
Written by someone who has been there, survived that and is wearing the tshirt, this is a wonderfully compassionate book that helps you realise that you are not alone.
Written by someone who has been there, survived that and is wearing the tshirt, this is a wonderfully compassionate book that helps you realise that you are not alone.
Goodreads Giveaway Win.
As the book stated... everyone's story is different. We deal differently. We do things differently. But this book was a good one to read, to know I am not alone. The only one fighting myself and depression etc. Such a good read , anyone in this fight I suggest you give this a read.
As the book stated... everyone's story is different. We deal differently. We do things differently. But this book was a good one to read, to know I am not alone. The only one fighting myself and depression etc. Such a good read , anyone in this fight I suggest you give this a read.
Maybe you have to be heartbroken to appreciate this. I'm not and therefore didn't.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Cathy Rentzenbrink grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in London. A former Waterstones bookseller, she is now Project Director of the charity Quick Reads and Associate Editor of The Bookseller magazine.
More about Cathy Rentzenbrink...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
