I've read Carol Smith's reporting before, so I was really interested in this memoir exploring her grief after the loss of her child.

And this was an excellent and moving read. It doesn't necessarily translate that a good reporter is also going to be a skilled writer in more long form projects, but Smith's skills continue to shine here.

As she describes the people she gets to know in her work, and ties their lives into her own as she comes to terms with the death of her son, the emotions are so visceral. Smith's explorations of other people's journeys with tragic change and grief were so kind and respectful.

I was left quite literally breathless as I read. There are so many moments that I bookmarked and highlighted that I can't wait to share with others. I am certainly going to be recommending this to several people in my life who are dealing with their own losses.

Many thanks to NetGalley and ABRAMS for the opportunity to read this arc.

Thank you netgalley and Abrams press for the arc in exchange for my opinion.

This was such a powerful memoir, so many stories that show you that everyone is going through a journey and everyone has their own battles. Secretly. You just don’t know everyone’s journey.

Thank you for the stories of strength and not forgetting love.

An inspiring story--populated by wonderful people and evocative narratives. This book is riveting--poignant and moving at every moment. I love the central metaphor the title conveys as well.

This is an intimate, touching yet a powerful person story of the author Carol Smith.

Dealing with a loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences that one faces in life and each person deals with it in their own way.

Through this book, the author being a journalist, recounts and shares how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense challenges, whether a life-altering accident, injury, or diagnosis.

Its extremely difficult to rate this book because it’s not fiction. Each story is raw, unique and an emotional journey across the life experiences of different people with lots of valuable lessons.

Overall, a beautiful read with a message of hope to all who are grieving.

Thank You NetGalley and Abrams Press for this ARC!

Crossing the River is a beautiful and profoundly moving book, an unforgettable journey through grief toward hope, and a valuable, illuminating read for anyone coping with loss.

Intense, beautiful, moving. An anthology of grief and recovery - something many of us can relate to in these difficult times. Lovely read !

This vulnerable book touches on stories of grief and resilience and considers how to survive as humans when we are so vulnerable and so interconnected. As a disabled writer, I tend to approach stories about illness and trauma with care, because so often disableism skews narratives. Lived experiences can be flattened to fit human lives into predictable tropes. There is also a certain genre of 'parent stories'; parents writing about their lives, as parents of disabled children. These stories are valid, needed and necessary, but often come from a different and more medical perspective than the stories told by disabled children and adults themselves.

The topics of grief and survival need to be named and I believe would only be strengthened by further considering the perspective of disabled readers, for example writing about the "curious syntax of a deaf child" "Chris heaven go". It may read as 'curious' to a hearing person, but for a d/Deaf ASL/BASL/BSL speaker, the syntax is accurate and correct. Just as I sometimes speak in English but with Welsh syntax e.g "I do go". It may seem odd but that's only from the perspective that English syntax is correct, rather than appreciating regional variations.

However, the approach to this book is both a personal parent's story of resilience and a journalist's dedication to truth and understanding. The author's truth as a mother and one who survived such heart-renting grief is shared here and it seems to connect with many other people's truth too.

Crossing the River is a intimate, personal and touching story of the authors life with her young son Christopher and how she deals with her grief after his sudden death at the age of 7. As a journalist she profiled ordinary people as they dealt with their own challenges, Crossing the River focuses on the stories of seven individuals that helped her heal. These stories are cleverly entwined with the story of her and Christopher.

This is a very moving story that shows there is no right or wrong way to deal with grief.

I was given a copy of Crossing the River by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A powerful memoir of a mother dealing with grief. At times, it was hard to pick up, in the same way that sometimes all I want to do is talk about my grief and other times that's the last thing I want to dwell on. I believe that there is no right or wrong way to grieve and process loss, and I always find it difficult to rate these sorts of memoirs because they are so deeply personal.

Carol Smith's memoir, Crossing the River, is a beautiful and heart-wrenching depiction of grief as a lived experience and her search for how to move forward after the death of her son at the age of seven. The phrase "crossing the river" is a translation of the Khmer phrase for giving birth, but to the author the phrase also comes to mean both drowning in grief after losing her son and ultimately being able to let him go by literally scattering his ashes above the river they loved to watch together. As a journalist, the author heals herself through the power of the stories she writes about real people going through transformative experience of loss which bear upon some aspect of her own grief journey. Although this book will be especially helpful to parents grieving the death of a child, it is by no means so limited in scope. The author's experiences speak to anyone who is grieving and struggling to move forward in the face of overwhelming loss, particularly those suffering from complicated grief. The particular stories the author tells are uneven in terms of interest, and the book is incredibly difficult to read because it is so painful. It is certainly not a book to speed through, but rather to sit with and absorb over time. However, I am honored that the author shared her story and the story of her son Christopher, as well as the stories of the others who helped her cross the river again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Crossing the river tells the story of Carol Smith's grief for the loss of her 9-year-old son and the lessons she learnt from others.

It's well written and interesting, but it felt strange to go from a journalistic style of storytelling to her deep thoughts and feelings and how she linked those stories to her own grief. I felt that in some parts I couldn't see the connection between what she was reporting on and her own story, and that those links felt forced at times. But then I realised that we all do this: someone else is talking and we have thoughts about some experience we've had and how similar it is to what they're saying (even if to others there's no resemblance/link at all). After that, my mind relaxed and I enjoyed reading the stories.

As with any memory, I feel weird rating this book, because it feels like I am criticising her path through grief, and there's no "correct" way of grieving. Despite the indescribable pain that she has endured, the final message is of hope.

Many thanks for NetGalley and Abrams Press for a free ARC in exchange of an honest opinion.

Thank you to the author, Abrams Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a memoir of a mother's journey through grief, a very personal and powerful record of the death of her young son and what that meant for her as a mother. This death must have been especially wrenching given that his prognosis at birth was very bad, and by the age of approx. 6 years his health had finally stabilized to the extent that cautious optimism was possible. The author is a journalist, and the book unravels as a series of extended essays and glimpses into the lives of people who are struggling with health issues. Plunging into work is the way the author chooses to work through her grief - although for much of the book, it seems that her choice is to keep it close and foster it, rather than work through it. The encounters with her interview subjects fuel a paradigm shift and bit by bit the author is able to let go. Yes, the book centers and concentrates on the author, and yes, it's filled with self-pity and self-examination at times. No, the writing is not always great, but grief is raw and selfish. Personally, I found it a moving read, well worth the plunge into the heavy subject matter.

Crossing the River is a memoir by journalist Carol Smith. After suffering the terrible loss of her 7 year old son, she moves to Seattle. The memoir features seven stories she covers that help serve as a sort of life raft for her as she navigates her grief. It is a heavy book, filled with tragedy, but is all underpinned with a message of hope. I was left feeling the gravity of the human experience. Going through a tragedy can feel so personal and leave one feeling very alone. The author seems to realize, and share with the reader, that we are all connected by the shared experience of tragedy, even if the circumstances are different. It is individual, but still collective.

I rated it 4 stars because it occasionally gets a little rambly, and it can be difficult to read as it does get quite heavy, but it is worth reading and well-written overall.

This memoir is heartbreaking, beautiful, and eye-opening. Carol Smith, a journalist, shares her journey through grief following the death of her seven-year-old son. The majority of the book is absolutely heart-wrenching and left me with a residual feeling of loneliness. It details seven stories that she reported on after moving back to Seattle. The book ends on a more hopeful note, leaving the reader to think about how life is hard, will likely get harder, but there is still good out there. It took me over a month to get through this book because of how heavy it is. At parts, I wish that it did not read like a jumble of thoughts meant for a journal. The overwhelming feeling of loneliness and isolation I retained from this book made it a touch too much for me.

This is an incredibly difficult book to read, as it deals with the author’s grief over the death of her young son. Still, this book is woven with hope and contains beautiful storytelling. The author is a newspaper journalist, which I personally enjoyed as a former newspaper journalist.

What I loved most was the different stories and characters that the author follows. This is a really unique read and I highly recommend it

Carol Smith’s memoir is a stunning book which, at its heart, deals with her son’s death. Christopher was a child when he died unexpectedly, following a number of health issues, and Smith, a newspaper journalist in Seattle, holds his story, and her love for him, at the core of this book.

Obviously, losing a child is a devastating experience. What makes it worse for Smith is that she wasn’t there when Christopher died - he was staying with his dad and his grandparents at the time. There was nothing that Smith could have done but it’s the lack of being there that nags at her, that troubles her - this being completely understandable. It’s not until many years later that she can bring herself to scatter Christopher’s ashes, to release him and to release part of her, too.

Throughout this memoir, Smith explores the lives of many other people she comes into contact with. Through her work at the Seattle P-I newspaper, she ‘follows’ various people to tell their stories. There’s Seth, a boy who has progeria, an ageing disease; Gerri, with breast cancer. She even explores the back story of her grandmother who was called to the front line in World War One, close to Armistice. All of the stories Smith tells help her to come to terms with Christopher’s passing - by following others and learning of their experiences, she is able to understand more about her own personal loss. In many ways, this is cathartic for her, but not in a way that’s selfish - it’s more it’s part of the healing process for Smith, and towards the end she writes ‘Their stores are all our stories’ and I think this sums it up beautifully.

I did wonder about the outcomes of some of the characters, such as Seth - one of the first stories and someone she spends a lot of time with - and Gerri. However, towards the book’s conclusion, readers are given a summary of what happened, with some positive news, but also some inevitable tragedy. The epilogue focuses more on the job of a newspaper reporter - and the analogy of the ‘... not always functional extended family’ is Smith’s way of saying how important the newspaper was to all that worked there.

This is a superb memoir and one that will leave readers with a huge amount to consider, regardless of personal situation.

This book was exceptionally hard to read but beautifully written. None of the seven stories are easy to read, easy to digest and appreciate. But there is a raw beauty in the pain in them, and that's what makes tomorrow possible. As a nurse who worked in palliative care, I completely sympathise with Carol and understand her feelings 100%.

This is not the book for someone going through acute grief, it is also not the type of book you read when wanting something uplifting or light, if you are wanting something to make you feel, think about once you have finished reading, then this is that book. I would love a hard copy of this, I will recommend to other palliative care nurses who I worked with and will happily discuss this book in a book group setting. Thank you so much to the author, publisher and netgalley for giving me the opportunity for reading this book.

CROSSING THE RIVER: SEVEN STORIES THAT SAVED MY LIFE
A MEMOIR
BY CAROL SMITH
PUBLISHED BY ABRAHAM PRESS
#netgally, #goodreads,#carolsmith

I rate it as a 5 star read.
Carol Smith has written a memoir about the loss of her son and the grief and trauma associated with it and how she recovers from it. It is about mothers love and the joy of living.
She lost her son, Christopher at age 7. He was born with a congenital developmental defect that blocked his urinary tract, damaging his kidneys. With advanced medical intervention and a kidney transplant he survives the disability. She gives up her solid newspaper job and moves to LA, where she could get remedial therapy and support for Christopher. With a mothers love for her child, they create a life that is beautiful and memorable and hoped that it will never end.
Being a mother for the first time, she is totally swamped with love and happiness. And manages to enjoys life with him. Just as any parent would do.
Finally, Christopher succumbs to his illness. This devastates Carol. She could not accept his death, more so because she was not present at his side when he died. It is devastating to lose a son so young, though medically compromised. Grief overtook her, medically termed Persistent Complex Bereavement Syndrome.
She goes into self imposed exile. She goes into a withdrawal mode. Every moment she just thinks of her life with Christopher.
After some time , Carol realizes that life must go on.
As she notes “To overcome grief, one has to accept the loss of the person and adjust to life without that person.” She moves back to Seattle near her family and back to her newspaper job. There she gets the opportunity to report on medical matters. In this book, Carol chronicles 7 cases that she reported on that changed her outlook to life. Reporting on these stories and the people, she got emotionally involved. These stories become s her lifeline. And as she notes “they showed me the way back across the river”. They showed how to find balance, how to move forward and make peace with what we don’t control.
These 7 persons with medical problems made her realize that “the art of life is in the mending broken dreams, broken promises, broken bodies”. “You have to choose to have hope”
These are all inspirational stories. Carol has written a beautiful page turner of a memoir.
I would recommend this book to all, especially those grieving over a loss of a dear one.
( Thanks to Netgally and Abrams Press for the chance to read to ARC.)

This memoir veers into self help for those who are grieving. The author’s story is interspersed with stories that she found poignant during her journey through grief.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of 'Crossing the River.'
I think memoirs are the hardest to review because the author is sharing a piece of themselves for the world to see. It is their truth alone and being critical is difficult, especially in the case of this book. It explores the grief of losing a child and slowly learning that life is still worth living. Carol Smith shares her story candidly and gracefully. Ultimately, I found it to be a hopeful book that encourages the reader to keep on going, regardless of their proximity to the author's experiences.