REVIEWS

LOVE SONGS FOR HEALING AND HOPE

Written by: Fiona Gardner

Published by: The Handsel Press

Price: £15.00

The author, a Church of Scotland minister at Glasgow: Knightswood Anniesland Trinity will be donating the proceeds of this book to two Scottish charities.

It is a follow-up to her earlier work, Love Song For A Wounded Warrior, which brought together the collected works of her late husband, Colin, who wanted to chart his journey through poetry and words following a head injury whilst serving in the military. However, the book was not completed before his death and his wife picked up the threads to compose a moving work.

In this latest book, offered simply as ‘a fellow human being’ she offers resources seeking to help those journeying through bereavement, trauma and loss, but also seeking to help those who have cared for others and helped with caring and healing.

In an introduction she writes: ‘Grief can be so complex, and affects life so profoundly – sometimes we laugh hysterically to relieve tension, at other times we wrestle with guilt and regrets. However you are feeling, you are not alone, you are loved and there is hope.’

Whilst principally a diary of grief, the book also contains helpful insights and resources that helped on the hard days of the never ending journey. The final pages of the book also bring together the stories of ten colleagues and friends who have also faced up to lifechanging trauma.

The book offers a compassionate response to grief and considers the longer term impact of bereavement – for too long a taboo subject for some.

The book can be used as a helpful response to a journey through grief but is also a deeply personal account of healing and journeying along the way.

ISLANDS OF THE EVENING

Written by: Alistair Moffat

Published by: Birlinn

Price: £10.99

Moffat, the founder of Borders Book Festival and former director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programme at STV, has meticulously researched the early Irish saint who brought Christianity to Scotland’s Hebrides and Atlantic shore. Tracing their journey on foot, Moffat, dubbed the ‘scholarly hiker’ presents a factual account to the history but also captures the essence of the saints not only in all that was left behind, but in their spirit and memory.

It is a lively and sometimes humorous account for a popular audience and whilst meticulously researched, he captures the spirit of beauty of the ‘thin place’ between heaven and earth.

Lynne McNeil