Losing Young

‘An incredibly useful take on facing grief as a young person’ CARIAD LLOYD

'Brilliantly, brilliantly written … Packed with clarity, curiosity and courage' FELIX WHITE

‘It turned on so many lights for me … What a profoundly helpful book’ KATHRYN MANNIX

Grief does something particular when it hits you young. This book is a moving exploration of that transformative pain, from the founder of The Grief Network.

Rachel Wilson’s mother died when Rachel was in her twenties. It felt like the definitive end of childhood, a loss that rewired her perspective on life, death, relationships and who she was as a person.

In this book, Rachel brings together other stories of bereavement with her own, encountering people who have lost parents, siblings, partners and friends at a young age. Losing Young draws on psychological research, interviews with titans like Julia Samuel and explorations of grief in history: what happens in a time of war or pandemic, when the many grieve – or struggle to – together? How do different cultures process the end of a life differently? How can the grief of losing a parent return in strange form when one thinks about having children? What do TV and fiction get disastrously, unhelpfully wrong?

This is a personal and profound book about what happens when youth is reshaped by tragedy, trauma and loss. It’s for anyone who mourns a lost future, who is struggling to find themselves after grief, or hopes to feel less alone.

Reviews

‘It’s well-researched and engagingly written, covering everything from sex after grief, how mourning is approached differently throughout the world and returning to work after loss. A must-read for anyone wanting to understand their own grief better, feel less alone – or even learn more about this important part of life more generally’
INDEPENDENT

‘Thoughtfully and beautifully written, but most important of all, an incredibly useful take on facing grief as a young person’
CARIAD LLOYD, author of YOU ARE NOT ALONE and host of GRIEFCAST

'A brilliantly, brilliantly written exploration of young grief. Endlessly absorbing, it is packed with clarity, curiosity and courage'
FELIX WHITE, guitarist for THE MACCABEES and author of IT'S ALWAYS SUMMER SOMEWHERE

‘The truth is, it has turned on so many lights for me that I had to read slowly, carefully and with space to reflect. I've met familiar ideas I didn't know I carried, I've had assumptions challenged and anxieties assuaged. I feel I've attended a masterclass about supporting my bereaved friends, taught by a kind and patient expert speaking with love from the heart of her loss … What a profoundly helpful book’
KATHRYN MANNIX, author of WITH THE END IN MIND AND LISTEN

'An important and insightful book about the loneliness of grief and the transformative power of community'
GAVANNDRA HODGE, author of THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE

‘As an educationalist, I have seen far too many children lose parents and others dear to them. This book is full of wisdom and compassion and will help many far and wide’
ANTHONY SELDON

About the author

RACHEL WILSON is a writer and the founder of The Grief Network, a community run by and for bereaved young people. Her writing has appeared in The Times, the Guardian, the New Statesman and more. She is currently training to become a barrister.