Pulitzer Prize winner for International Reporting, Tony Horwitz had been a war correspondent in the most dangerous conflict zones in the world for decades. Ironically, he wasn’t killed by bombs or shellfire, but by a heart attack. He fell dead to the footpath in Washington DC on America’s Memorial Day in 2019.
Horwitz’s widow, Australian author/ journalist Geraldine Brooks, was also a veteran of crises and warzones. She and Tony had worked together often, travelling and witnessing some of the most devastating global events in their lifetimes.
Her own devastation at her husband’s sudden death, aged only sixty-one, led Brooks to search for her own understanding of the grief process, whilst navigating the myriad of practical tasks required when your closest person dies.
Geraldine Brooks has been a favourite writer of mine for years. Her ability to phrase nonfiction into flowing and beautiful narrative is unusually skillful, and highly creative.
This memoir, written six years of immeasurable tears and anguish after Tony’s death, is a lesson in fine writing for those of us who are celebrants. Her observations, both emotional and physical, go beyond many of the books I have read on grief. Her insights are prophetic, those of a person who has seen the best and the very worst of human behavior.
Retreating to an isolated island in the Bass Strait near Tasmania, Brooks allows herself to be guided and moved by the rugged landscape, tides, flora and fauna. Her vivid description of the environment is sublime. She takes us there, invites us into her aching heart, and to walk beside her as she is healing.
I highly recommend this sad, angry and beautiful book by a multi award winning writer. My copy, with pencil marks beside many of the paragraphs, will be a proud member of my resource bookcase. Enjoy!