News about the book

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IN THE NEWS:

                        

                          WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

When my son Josh died, I was inconsolable. My grief and rage were catastrophic. I became completely nonfunctional. I cried all the time. I lost thirty pounds. Weeks passed, then months. I was wearing out my husband and all my friends. Finally I went to a psychiatrist, a kind, rumpled man who formed his hands into a tent and listened to me scream and rave and  cry for several weeks.
Then came the day when he held up his hand and said, ‘Enough.’
‘What?’ I stared at him.
‘I am going to give you a new prescription.’
‘Oh, good,’ I said, wanting more drugs, anything.
He ripped out the prescription and handed it to me.
‘Write every day,’ it said in his crabbed little hand.
I didn’t think I could do it, but I did. I got back to the novel I had barely begun when Josh died.
And three years later, I could find my way to the grocery store again, I could laugh again, and I could remember the good times. Josh had become a part of who I am now.
Though we are not all professional writers, I am convinced that the mysterious and healing alchemy of writing can help us all. Carol Henderson is an expert and trustworthy guide—besides, she knows the territory.”~ Lee Smith, author of Fair and Tender Ladies

“In this brilliant, carefully wrought book, Carol Henderson has given us much more than a deeply healing practice for the bereaved and for those who would help them. Here are the very hearts of those who have lost a child, and here is a wise and practiced way to be a companion to and healer of the bereaved. Henderson herself has lost a child; she has turned that searing experience into a triumphant gift of detailed instructions and luminous experiences to assist those who must travel the same difficult journey.”~Pat Schneider, author of Writing Alone and With Others and founder of Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA)

“Mothers who have lost children often come to me, desperate to tell their stories, desperate for someone to listen. What Carol Henderson has done is give bereaved mothers a voice. And in FARTHER ALONG, she shows us all the pain of grief, mothers’ love, and the bravery of these women who put their stories on paper. This book should be a guide for counselors and teachers, for the bereaved, and for those who want to listen.” ~ Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle and Comfort: A Journey through Grief

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7 thoughts on “News about the book”

  1. From Jim Clemens, the brother of one of the Farther Along group members:
    OK, so maybe it’s a bit odd that I chose to to bring along Farther Along on our 25th anniversary trip to the Bahamas, but I figured I would have some down time and a chance to reflect. 

    First, What a great read! Well done. After reading through it though, it dawned on me that I’ll bet you are getting many varied responses. 

    This is where it met me…
    Where to begin..all the writing stuff seemed secondary, necessary, but not the main focus of the story.  Also, oddly enough, the individual stories, again absolutely necessary, was still not the main purpose (for me) of the book..

    To me it read kind of like and adventure story…let me try to explain….
    Not to be cliche, but remember the first Lord of the Rings where you met all the individual characters and slowly they came together and eventually ended up on this mighty quest together?  All those different personalities, going about it in different ways but all striving toward a common goal?  As they were thrown together you could feel the awkwardness and/or tension coming from the group but by the end they had formed a union brought about by common experiences and goals.  My favorite scene in that movie is at the end of the third one where the four hobbits are sitting around a table at a bar back in the shire while life goes on around them because no one else knows the truth that had been going on around them. The four hobbits knew and clung to one another through those common experiences.

    How your group of women grew together was the most fascinating part of the story for me.  A Journey into Authentic Community.

    I was moved obviously by all the individual stories. Tragic. But in the end, life. We will all be touched by tragedy. Some more than others, sadly to say.

    But what really jumped out of the pages to me was how you are all dealing with it within community.

    Very good read! And may we all learn something about the journey of life from each other.

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  2. Have you read the book? Leave your comments here:

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    • emily herring wilson said:

      I think the book launch for “Farther Long” at the Community Arts Cafe in downtown Winston-Salem was one of the most authentic gatherings I’ve ever attended. I was moved beyond words. Thank you all. Emily Herring Wilson

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    • susan hauser said:

      I am reading this book. Each page is filled with so much awareness of what is important in life that it has put me in touch with savoring the richness of each moment of life. Do not race though life overlooking precious people and times.

      Like

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