Twentyone Olive Trees

“The author’s power to move readers is exemplified by the closing of ‘Camel and Spider’ in which Camel says, ‘You’re in the moon. You’re in every grain of sand. I can’t see anything without seeing you, Spider.’ Cooper’s full-color illustrations add to the book’s unusual melding of genres. The end result is a tenderly philosophical study that offers hope and solace."
—Kirkus, Starred Review

"Laura Formentini has written a lovely book of life lessons through stories, poems, and vignettes of insight and wisdom and revelation. The ultimate result is reinventing life through conscious awareness of life's daily miracles of healing transformation and liberation. I highly recommend it."
-Deepak Chopra

This beautifully illustrated collection of poems, fables, and letters is a gift to anyone healing from the suffering caused by a traumatic loss.

Nothing could have prepared Laura Formentini for the shocking news of her son's death by suicide. Seeking solace during her time of grief, Laura turned inward to transform her pain and shock into healing and peace. She accomplished this by writing letters, poems, and fables to her son, Blaise, in the year after his untimely death. This became the beautiful tribute Twentyone Olive Trees: A Mother’s Walk through the Grief of Suicide to Hope and Healing.

This book traces the author's path from grief to healing, through illustrations, poems, and fables with morals that reflect the wisdom Laura and her son Blaise gained during the years they spent living and traveling together. These take a childlike, intimate look at coping with loss and embracing acceptance, with loss and embracing acceptance.

The sweet lessons will speak to the griever’s heart. Lessons that teach us that our loved one is always with us, whether we can see them or not. The first fable “Camel and Spider” ends with this message:

“Silly Camel, I’m right here with you, even when I’m not with you.”

Camel looked at the moon visible in the afternoon sky. “You’re in the moon. You’re in every grain of sand. I can’t see anything without seeing you, Spider.”

Twentyone Olive Trees allows the reader to take a journey in a non-traditional manner, through the beautiful transformations told in the fables, allowing the healing process to begin after a traumatic loss.

Illustrated by Marit Cooper

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-955119-05-4

Hardcover ISBN: 9781955119078

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-7365215-2-6