I Know It in My Heart

“A remarkable...and intense exploration of the nature of grief and guilt, featuring searing personal insights as well as cleareyed professionalism."—KIRKUS REVIEWS

“…a powerful, heart wrenching memoir that takes a visceral, somewhat clinical look at loss, grief, and healing, the journey of a woman and a child through devastating loss."—READER’S FAVORITE

2018 Forward Indies finalist (Grief and Grieving)

2018 Readers Favorite: Honorable Mention

2018 Maine Literary Award : Memoir Finalist

2017 May Sarton book award Finalist (Memoir)

2017 Living Now silver Medalist ( Inspirational Memoir)

2017 International Book Award Finalist (Memoir)

"I wish this book had existed decades ago, to help adults understand how children navigate grief during and after a parent’s death. Kudos to Mary Plouffe, Ph.D. not just for writing this book about the aftermath of her sister’s death but also for helping her niece adjust to the absence from ages 3-15 and beyond. This is an important addition to the children’s bereavement field. Highly recommended." - Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters and many other grief books

"A searing, beautifully written story of unfathomable grief and unbreakable family bonds. If you are a human being, read this." – Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys and The One-in-a-Million Boy

"Because we are mortal, love always turns to grief, but honest remembering, of the kind Mary Plouffe does here, restores it to its true nature. As a therapist, Plouffe understands the difficult pathways of mourning; as a sister, she has had to walk them in sorrow and wonder; as a writer, she has depicted the terrain with a power and beauty that will make I Know It in My Heart a classic." – Richard Hoffman, author of Half the House and Love & Fury

"In a profound yet simple way, Mary Plouffe gives us a compelling personal story of grieving, - from her sister's diagnosis, then caring for her little niece, her own family, herself, then loss and onto healing. Her evident experience as a psychologist adds authority to a universal story in a deep and tender way….a noteworthy compassionate companion, eloquent and reassuring". – Anne Lynch Heros, Director, Maine Center for Grieving Children

"Mary Plouffe has written an achingly beautiful family guide to loss and healing. This is a story that will make a difference, told with grace and wit and the keen understanding of a sister's grief and a child's capacity for hope. I could not put it down." – Susan Conley, author of The Foremost Good Fortune, Paris was the Place, Stop Here, This is the Place

"Mary Plouffe's love for her late sister lives on in the close relationship she built with her niece after their mutual great loss, just as it lives on in I Know it in My Heart, a book that so poignantly bows to the often-unacknowledged pain suffered by a grieving sibling, and the life-altering loss experienced by a young child." – Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Songs from a Lead Lined Room, This is Paradise, and Sundays in America