The Madness of Grief, Richard Coles
The Madness of Grief, Richard Coles
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The Madness of Grief
A Memoir of Love and Loss

Author: Richard Coles

Narrator: Richard Coles

Unabridged: 5 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2021

Synopsis

Read by the Reverend Richard Coles

Whether it is pastoral care for the bereaved, discussions about the afterlife, or being called out to perform the last rites, death is part of the Reverend Richard Coles's life and work. But when his partner the Reverend David Coles died, shortly before Christmas in 2019, much about death took Coles by surprise. For one thing, David's death at the early age of forty-three was unexpected.

The man that so often assists others to examine life's moral questions now found himself in need of help. He began to look to others for guidance to steer him through his grief. The flock was leading the shepherd. Much about grief surprised him: the volume of 'sadmin' you have to do when someone dies, how much harder it is travelling for work alone, even the pain of typing a text message to your partner - then realising you are alone.

The Reverend Richard Coles's deeply personal account of life after grief will resonate, unforgettably, with anyone who has lost a loved one.

About Richard Coles

THE REVEREND RICHARD COLES is a writer, broadcaster and an Anglican priest. He co-presented Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4 for a number of years and appears, from time to time, on QI, Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You? He has won Christmas MasterChef, Celebrity Mastermind twice, and captained Leeds to victory in Christmas University Challenge in 2019. A contestant on Strictly Come Dancing (2017) and a third place finalist on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! (2024) he exhibits huge bravery. He writes regularly for the Sunday Times, and is the author of half a dozen books, including a bestselling autobiography, Fathomless Riches, and the bereavement bestseller The Madness of Grief, written after the death of his partner, David Coles. The first three books in the Canon Clement series have all been No.1 Sunday Times bestsellers.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily

Richard Coles' civil partner, David, died in December 2019 due to complications arising from his alcoholism. Whilst Coles had grown accustomed to David's quirks and side-effects due to his illness, his death was sudden and unexpected. The Madness of Grief covers the period of David's death from the e......more

Goodreads review by Emma

Read this in two sittings as I couldn't put it down. - extremely honest and moving account of the devastation of losing someone so beloved. Favourite quote "I have infringed two of the most strictly enforced regulations David imposed on the vicarage. First, I have parked my bike in the hall. In fact......more

Goodreads review by Margaret

Madness of Grief. A memoir of Love and Loss I really resonated with this book. Can't say I enjoyed because for me it was close to home. I lost my husband after 46 years of marriage on 23rd December 2020. He had been ill throughout the difficult pandemic year his health deteriorated and I knew it was......more

Goodreads review by Becca

I think I must have missed something with this book. I was hoping for a raw and emotional account of a vicar’s experience of losing a spouse and the aftermath, how he coped, and how he managed this alongside his unwavering faith. Instead, it was very descriptive, mainly of his visits to friends - no......more

Quotes

Beautiful, honest and massively comforting

Immensely moving and disarmingly witty

Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved . . . shines with the sort of wry, self-analytical wisdom you might expect from Coles. Full of resonating reflections, ones that urge us all to be kinder, to love more strongly INDEPENDENT

Such a moving, tough, funny, raw, honest read. The beautiful articulation of Richard's grief will be a comfort to so many

Captures brilliantly, beautifully, bravely the comedy as well as the tragedy of bereavement . . . simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, painful and strangely comforting as it confronts the reality of what happens to us all in the end THE TIMES

Beautifully written, moving and gut-wrenching, but also at times very funny, each smile and laugh a candle in the dark

An astonishingly brave, bold and honest book about the tragedy - and unexpected comedy - of bereavement. Such a harrowing, hopeful and comforting book. If I could prescribe Richard Coles, I'd administer him stat to us all Dr Rachel Clarke, author of DEAR LIFE

This is not a self-help book on how to cope with death and loss, it is an honest, raw and personal account of a man's descent into the Madness of Grief. Richard provides a frank account of the trials and tribulations he endured during the weeks between the death and the funeral of the man he loved. Funny, sad, touching and thought provoking, it reminds us that grief has no normality, no time limit and most importantly, no rules

Bold, intimate writing . . . THE MADNESS OF GRIEF is not a manual for the bereaved, but as a vivid account of how it feels when the world suddenly falls away, it performs another kind of service THE SUNDAY TIMES

Deeply moving . . . has an immediacy that is not born of long reflection and it is all the better for it FINANCIAL TIMES

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