Thomas Hardy and the Death of Emma What His Writings Reveal by Andrew Norman

 This was a strange but fascinating book about Hardy and his grief for his first wife Emma. Although they had a very romantic and happy courtship, the marriage itself was very unhappy due to Emma’s mental illness although Hardy sounded as though he was a very difficult man and there were rumours that he had a mistress. He was still distraught about Emma’s death, turning his grief into beautiful poetry. He was lucky that he had such a sweet and understanding second wife who was remarkably patient because he was so overcome with guilt and depression over Emma! It probably would have driven most women mad.

It was interesting to see how Hardy ‘handled’ his grief and anyone who is a widow or a widower will easily identify with him but he was lucky that he had such a patient second wife. This is probably worth reading a few times if you are grieving for the insights that it gives about the stages of grief, especially the sixth stage. It’s best if you are a fan of Hardy though!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.