At the age of 36 Rachel suffers a fatal aneurism leaving her husband, Max, and 6-year old daughter, Ellie, to reshape their lives. The narrative is told through the eyes of dead Rachel above the clouds. She can’t change anything, just watch over the course of two years. She watches the grieving and feels their pain, the mending and feels jealousy, fearful and resentful, but slowly things change for all involved. This is a love story from an interesting perspective. I think we all have feelings of insecurity about how others would cope or change without us. Here those anxieties are very well handled. A lovely read.
The Dead Wife's Handbook is the stunning emotional debut from author Hannah Beckerman. 'Today is my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.' Rachel, Max and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart stopped beating. Now Max and Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her problems. As Rachel grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope for.
