I’m not usually a fan of memoirs but I will be gifting this book regularly and encouraging students in my courses (the future healthcare providers of tomorrow) to read it. The title will grab your attention but the deep understanding and ability to craft learning and love into intimate experiences for others to benefit from,will keep you reading. Jessica Waite - thank you for writing about grief in a way that will encourage so many to value the experiences and not run away from them. As you write - my friend goes to physio everyday - I go to grief. In a society that would rather us diagnose grief as a disorder, Jessica and this book challenge us to deepen our understanding and awareness of the connections that grief instil in all of us. We are all grieving and should read this book. (If I could, this would be a 4.5 star review - I don’t “do” 5 stars…..) READ this book!!

Jessica Waite portrays in this memoir how she deals with her late husband’s secrets and his passing — as well as how she deals with her grief.
This book was written with candour — full of raw vulnerability — though this book at times was heart breaking it also had dry humour ( the prologue really drew me in to the novel)— while one could be shocked by her dead husbands behaviour eventually it evokes compassion, concern and sympathy for those with mental health issues .
Ultimately this is a hopeful story full of resilience and renewal, and one woman’s strength to move forward , finding healing and acceptance in the face of betrayal.

A memoir packed with heartrending revelations, damning the instigator and obfuscating the author’s grief over the sudden death of her husband, Sean, at the young age of forty seven. For Sean was, in fact, a bastard. A terrible one - being both a liar and a cheat and hiding terrible secrets that will take years for Jess to process and finally, reconcile.

Jess and Sean are somewhat used to trials, as they attempt to manage their family cross-border and long-distance - Sean as an executive working in Houston, Texas, and Jess raising their family back home in Calgary, Alberta.

Suffering from bipolar disorder, and exhibiting wild mood swings, it was long clear that life with Sean would come with emotional challenges. But nothing could have prepared Jess as she struggles to parent her suddenly fatherless nine-year-old son, Dash, amidst the staggering news of Sean’s fatal heart attack in Houston. As her life unravels, Jess must embark on her own healing journey, and it’s clear that this memoir, and the terrible facts (and related feelings) it acknowledges, will play a very important role in that process.

Written with incredible candor and such rawness and vulnerability (laced with dry humor where it is most needed), that Sean’s behavior cannot help but horrify, enrage and devastate the reader, as it evokes compassion and concern for those so deeply affected.

A heartbreaking read, but also, ultimately, a hopeful one, this is a story of resilience and renewal, and one woman’s strength to move on, finding healing in the face of ultimate betrayal.

A great big thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.