Chasing Death: Losing a Child to Suicide.

Chasing Death: Losing a Child to Suicide. by Jan Andersen. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781905399444.

Chasing Death is NOT a grief recovery book, but one that attempts to put candid and heartrending words to the often incommunicable pain, guilt and despair that the surviving families endure, not only through the telling of the authors story, but through the experiences of other families mourning the loss of a child, stepchild, grandchild, sibling, friend or relative to suicide. Although this book will break your heart, it will also provide solace to other child suicide grievers in the knowledge that their thoughts and feelings are entirely normal and that they are not alone. Too many bereaved people are thrown into a wilderness of relentless, silent torture, afraid to share their feelings for fear of being judged. This book clearly demonstrates how debilitating the grief can be and how it can still cripple a survivor, ten, twenty, thirty and even forty years or more after the event. However, there are uplifting chapters that give advice on how to live alongside the grief in a positive way and how joy and sadness can co-exist. The audience for Chasing Death extends beyond grieving families and those who deal with them and will provide a compelling, touching and enlightening read for anyone interested in emotional true life stories. It will also help people respond with greater understanding and sensitivity to the surviving families grief. £1 from every hard copy of the book sold is being donated to Kidscape, the UK charity dedicated to keeping children safe from bullying and abuse.