A Heart That Works
The Sunday Times bestselling, moving true story of love and loss - as heard on R4's Desert Island Discs
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4.5 • 25 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Acclaimed writer and comedian Rob Delaney's honest, inspiring and unforgettable exploration of the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind.
'Just amazing. I found myself blasting through it in a weekend, reading a bit, having a good cry, reading a bit more. It was filled with honesty and tragedy and humour and lots of other stuff too.' 5* READER REVIEW
Rob's beautiful, bright, gloriously alive son Henry died. He was one when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. An experience beyond comprehension, but an experience Rob must share. Despite Henry's death, Rob still loves people. For that reason, he wants them to understand.
A Heart That Works is an intimate, unflinching and fiercely funny exploration of loss - from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that follows, through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains.
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Critical acclaim for A Heart That Works:
'A book that'll break a heart, and put it back together again . . . A life-changing read' STYLIST
'A beautiful monument' RICHARD OSMAN
'A viscerally extraordinary book' ELIZABETH DAY, HOW TO FAIL PODCAST
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Readers love A Heart That Works:
'Just amazing. I found myself blasting through it in a weekend, reading a bit, having a good cry, reading a bit more. It was filled with honesty and tragedy and humour and lots of other stuff too.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Loved how savage and raw and moving and joyous it was to read their journey as a family. To voice those brutal angry feelings that grief bring up is so brave and wondrous and normalising . . . A great and necessary and inspiring read.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I read this in one sitting. It is funny, poignant, heart-breaking, and sob inducingly brilliant. It shows the reader what real grief looks like whilst doing my favourite thing during hard times, laughing. It is filled with genuine love and emotion with the perfect amount of anger.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Delaney (Rob Delaney: Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.), cocreator and costar of the sitcom Catastrophe, recounts the death of his toddler son, Henry, and the aftermath in this heartrending memoir. In 2014, Delaney and his wife, Leah, moved to London for his work; two years later, Henry was born. Toward the end of his first year, Henry underwent an MRI, and a brain surgeon discovered a tumor near his brain stem. Following a successful surgery to remove the tumor, Henry lost the ability to swallow and received a tracheostomy, and health complications kept him in the hospital for 14 months. After Henry finally went home, Delaney writes, he basked in the "unalloyed beauty of his personality." But it was a short-lived idyll: Henry's cancer returned, and he died several months later, at home in Leah's arms. Delaney is reflective ("It physically pained me to sign the consent forms each time he got chemo"), and his raw emotionality captures the enormity of his loss ("I was ready to love this boy forever"). Profound, crushing, and wrenching, this account of a father's love takes the full measure of grief.
Customer Reviews
I can only access first page of each chapter?
Did this get fixed?
Did I just pay $19.99 for a sample?
I was so desperate to read this book, but I seemed to have somehow manage to be duped into buying the first page of 12 chapters. Do not buy! I feel terribly ripped off. I could have bought a hard copy for another $10 but wanted the convenience of reading it on my phone. Please fix!