Grief is the Thing with Feathers is the story of a grief-stricken father and his two young sons following the death of their mother. It is a deeply profound exploration of grief and one of the most beautiful and moving books I’ve read in a very long time.

The Crow enters the family’s home soon after their loss, he is drawn to the pain and despair of their grief. The crow describes himself as sentimental but actually he encompasses many personalities – he is babysitter, healer, trickster. The crow is a brilliant character because he is there to help the family through their grief but he also represents what grief is, how insidious it is and how it affects everything; how you want it to go away so you can feel better and at the same time cling to it because you don’t know what it will mean when it’s gone or how you will be without it.

This is a short novel written in part poetry, part prose; narrated by the Dad, the Boys and the Crow. They are a wonderful mix of characters and make for a novel whereby you are crying reading one page and then jolted by the humour on the next.

Compassion and beauty just radiate from this book. It is a novel to be read slowly, to be properly savoured. It is a novel to read and re-read. It is at times a challenging read but ultimately it’s a healing read, it’s completely worthwhile and I recommend it to everyone.

This book is absolutely a 10/10 star read, I’ve already pre-ordered a copy to keep in my own collection and it will be going straight on to my favourites shelf!

This book was sent to me by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Grief is the Thing with Feathers is published by Faber and Faber on 15th September.

Pre-order from Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1O5S22X