Hamilton Author Explores the Grieving Process

As the Pastor for 18 years at Mount Hamilton Baptist Church, Leanne Friesen had interacted with many who were dealing with loss. But when it hits home, these things tend to become personal. Her book, Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things After Death (note: not The Grieving Room) released in February in hardcover from Broadleaf Books and is already into its second printing.

Here is the publisher description:

People long to reduce the enormity of our grief. “Time heals all wounds,” they tell us, or “At least she isn’t in pain anymore.” Yet no matter how hard others try to stuff our grief into a process or a plan, grief cannot be willed away.

Leanne Friesen thought she knew a lot about bereavement. She had studied it in school and preached at memorial services. But only when her own sister died from cancer did she learn, in her very bones, what grieving people don’t need–and what they do. In Grieving Room, Friesen writes with vulnerability, wisdom, and somehow even wit about the stark and sacred lessons learned at deathbeds and funerals.

When someone dies, we need room for imperfect goodbyes, she writes, and room for a changing faith. We need room for regret and room to rage at the world. Room for hard holidays and room in our schedules. We need room for redemption and room for resurrection–and we also need room to never “get over it.”

In this poignant account of a sister’s mourning and a pastor’s journey, Friesen pushes back against a world that wants to minimize our sorrow and avoid our despair. She helps those of us walking with the grieving figure out what to say and what not to say, and she offers practical ways to create ample space for every emotion and experience. Reflection questions, practices, and prayers at the end of the book offer guidance and ideas for individuals and groups.

In a world that wants to rush toward closure and healing, Grieving Room gives us permission to let loss linger. When the very worst happens, we can learn to give ourselves and others grieving room.

The table of contents reveals that the book is organized around 15 grieving “rooms” or “spaces” that are either needed or experienced in various degrees.

For an excellent overview of the book, watch this interview Leanne did with 100 Huntley Street. (Fast-forward to the 9:47 mark; the interview runs about 12 minutes.)

From this point on, since this a trade blog, I want to ‘talk shop.’ I found it unusual that this American-published book by a Canadian author has no representation within our Christian book trade sphere. There is a Canadian distributor, Jaguar Book Group, which many of you reading this may not have dealt with before. This compounds with the American penchant for first-edition hardcovers. A straight 1.4000 conversion of its $26.99 US list — for example, if you purchase from Ingram — would make it $40.99 in Canada. The Jaguar price, $36.50 is more merciful! No representation also means there weren’t review copies in circulation, so I went with the publisher description.

That critique — which has nothing to do with the book’s content — aside, I’ve met Leanne in her other role as Executive Minister of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), that denomination’s top job; and have heard her speak on two occasions. I expect this book is meeting a real need right now, hence the need for a second printing. Take some time to watch the interview linked above.

Broadleaf Books| 256 pages, hardcover | 9781506492377 | 26.99 US (Ingram) 36.50 CAD (Jaguar)