"The art of losing isn't hard to master," wrote poet Elizabeth Bishop. Perhaps she meant that we will all face loss at some point in our lives. In this collection, we have brought together texts that take up the universal experience of grief.
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Race / Racism, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Magical Realism, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2014
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Place, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Historical Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, History: World, Arts / Culture
Here by Richard McGuire is a graphic novel published on December 4, 2014, by Pantheon Books. The graphic novel focuses on the same corner of a room over billions of years. It depicts the area long before the house is built and long after it falls. By using different visual styles, overlapping panels, and non-chronological narration, McGuire creates a narrative that comments on the nature of time and life. Here is considered a transformative work... Read Here Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Friendship
Publication year 1792
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Place
Tags Lyric Poem, Relationships, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, British Literature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Age of Enlightenment
Publication year 2014
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Animals, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, Biography
H Is for Hawk (2014) is British author Helen MacDonald’s award-winning memoir about her attempts to train a goshawk named Mabel in the wake of her father’s death. It is a memoir of grief, self-discovery, and the healing power of nature. MacDonald intersperses her descriptions of training Mabel with references to the memoirs of T.H. White, who writes about his own hapless attempts at falconry in the 1930s. The memoir was an instant bestseller and... Read H Is For Hawk Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Romance, LGBTQ, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1914
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Family
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Blank verse, Grief / Death
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: War, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Mental Health
Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Military / War, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Historical Fiction
Publication year 1860
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Transcendentalism
Publication year 1980
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Fate
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, American Literature, Classic Fiction
Housekeeping (1980) is a novel by Marilynne Robinson that follows the upbringing of two sisters, Ruthie and Lucille Stone, in Fingerbone, Idaho, in the 1950s. This is the first novel by Marilynne Robinson. It was awarded the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, an award the author later won for her novel Gilead (2004). Beyond Housekeeping, Robinson is most known for Gilead (2004) and Home (2008). Housekeeping, which has been named... Read Housekeeping Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Fantasy, Romance
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Siblings, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Grief / Death, Gothic Literature
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Inspirational
Publication year 1984
Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family
Mary Hood’s first collection of short stories, How Far She Went, was published in 1984 and won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Southern Review/Louisiana State University Short Fiction Award. This study guide refers to the University of Georgia Press edition published in 1984. Four stories in the collection first appeared in The Georgia Review: “A Country Girl,” “Doing This, Saying That, to Applause,” “Manly Conclusions,” and “Inexorable Progress.” The opening story... Read How Far She Went Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Grief / Death, Climate Change, Technology
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Mental Illness, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ
How to be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith. The narrative explores common threads of grief, identity, and memory from the perspectives of recently bereaved 16-year-old English schoolgirl George and a character named Francescho, inspired by the real 15th-century Italian artist Francesco del Cossa. The book, exploring themes such as The Impact of Grief on Personality, Ambiguity as an Inescapable Feature of Life, and Everyday Resistance to Injustice, was a critical... Read How to Be Both Summary