Ann Hood on Grief, Healing, and The Obituary Writer

In this interview, Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer, discusses the etiquette of grief, the reality that "healing" is a relative term, and her discovery of Emily Post's references to the process of grieving in her 1922 book, Etiquette. On April 18, 2002, Hood's five-year-old daughter, Grace, died died from a virulent form of strep. For two years Hood found herself unable to write or even read. Hood's best-selling 2008 memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief chronicles her struggle to deal with her daughter's sudden death. Hood's newest novel is The Obituary Writer, a narrative of two women in two different eras whose lives have a startling connection. In 1961, Claire, a young wife in an unhappy marriage, is trying to decide whether to stay or break free. Her decision will be influenced by events from 1919 when Vivien, a writer, was still searching for the man she loved, missing since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

[lisasays]

I've always felt it was so unfair that as the grieving person I had to understand the intentions behind the platitudes, and that people either don't know what to say or have spent their life's avoiding grief.

[peggybuckingham]

BRANDI JERNIGAN BROOKS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE TAKEN OFF LEGACY UNTILL