Grieving Room, Leanne Friesen
Grieving Room, Leanne Friesen
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Grieving Room
Making Space for All the Hard Things after Death and Loss

Author: Leanne Friesen

Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman

Unabridged: 7 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/06/2024


Synopsis

When we lose someone we love, we are forever changed. When our person dies, our grief needs room.

Leanne Friesen thought she knew a lot about bereavement. She had studied it in school and preached at memorial services. But only when her own sister died from cancer did she learn, in her very bones, what grieving people don't need—and what they do. In Grieving Room, Friesen writes with vulnerability, wisdom, and somehow even wit about the stark and sacred lessons learned at deathbeds and funerals. When someone dies, we need room for imperfect goodbyes, she writes, and room for a changing faith. We need room for regret and room to rage at the world. Room for hard holidays and room in our schedules. We need room for redemption and room for resurrection—and we also need room to never "get over it."

In this poignant account of a sister's mourning and a pastor's journey, Friesen pushes back against a world that wants to minimize our sorrow and avoid our despair. She helps those of us walking with the grieving figure out what to say and what not to say, and she offers practical ways to create ample space for every emotion and experience. Reflection questions, practices, and prayers at the end of the book offer guidance and ideas for individuals and groups.

About Leanne Friesen

Leanne Friesen is an author, speaker, grief educator, ordained minister, and curator of the popular Grieving Room Instagram account. She has pastored for twenty years and serves as a conference and retreat speaker across Canada. Friesen holds an MDiv from McMaster University, as well as a post-graduate certificate in death and bereavement from Wilfred Laurier University. A sought-after preacher, speaker, and guest on numerous grief platforms and podcasts, Friesen lives with her husband and two children in Hamilton, Ontario.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David on January 15, 2024

A Book about the Long Journey of Grief in the Hope—of Finding Hope Itself Halfway through Leanne Friesen's new book, Grieving Room, my reaction was: This is a book perfectly pitched for readers in their 20s, 30s and 40s. And just to clarify: It's her first book and I am saying that, because there is s......more

Goodreads review by Philip on February 15, 2024

As someone who has always struggled with finding the right thing to say and finding the right way to express my love and support to a grieving friend or family member, I found this book to be thoughtful, enlightening and helpful. Friesen writes from a Christian lens, but even as someone who has deli......more

Goodreads review by Debbie on February 28, 2024

This book is more than a book. It is a toolbox full of wisdom. Whereas many of walk into grief with the expectation that we will eventually walk right out of it again, Leanne very eloquently tempers that expectation. I think very few of us would be able to take such extreme grief and dive into it so......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on April 30, 2024

My aunt (i.e., my deceased dad's beloved little sister) pinged me in late February, very soon after this book came out, telling me I *had* to read it. Apparently, she picked it up at an airport? I bought the book, sat on it for a week or so with mild dread, then started in. Friesen, a pastor, writes......more

Goodreads review by Steve on January 24, 2024

Heartfelt, thoughtful and vulnerable. Loved it. Highly recommend!!......more