Jennifer Silvera

First of all, I didn't know this book was religious. I guess I should have known what with the title "Believe" and the American flag on the cover! Being an atheist, I find these references a little annoying, but I entered the contest to win this book because of the subject. For some reason, becoming a young widow is one of my big, irrational fears so I thought that reading about the author’s experience would be interesting.
Now, it is very hard to criticise someone’s experience, especially when it’s such a difficult subject, but I will try to. The book definitely teaches you the typical things like not to take the little things in daily life for granted, don’t waste time doing things that really don’t matter to you, tell those you care about why you appreciate them, etc. All of these big ideas are great and inspiring, but they’ve all been heard before. But, what makes this memoir interesting is that Silvera really gets into the details of her grief and she stresses the importance of finding your own way to deal with grief. You don’t have to listen to everyone’s advice because “only you know what’s right for you” (p. 75).
For example, she states that the concept of ‘moving on’ after someone important to you dies is not appropriate. You can’t just ignore a huge part of your past that has shaped who you are. She uses her example of living in Honduras to explain this; When she moved back to the US, she didn’t ‘move on’ from life in Honduras, but she incorporated it into her life back in the US through things like recipes. The important thing to do is to embrace your story of loss. The only thing you need to do is “let go of past regrets, obstacles, negativity and a constant striving for perfection” (p. 116).
I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of her relationship with her husband. Their relationship seemed genuine and really sweet. I love the little things they shared that made their relationship special (for example, saying “I something you”).
Overall, this is a great, raw account of a young woman’s extreme pain after the loss of her husband, and it is great inspiration for anyone who has to deal with a similar situation. If you, like me, do not like religious stuff, I still recommend this memoir because it is more about how she dealt with grief. I tended to skim over areas with lots of “God” on the page, and I simply appreciated her honesty and intimacy in retelling her story.… (plus d'informations)