For grief after losing a parent, You Are Not Alone is a guide to grieving by Cariad Lloyd, whose father died when she was fifteen, drawing on her podcast Griefcast. H is for Hawk is Helen Macdonald's account of her grief after her father died, told alongside training a goshawk. The Grieving Brain by neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O'Connor explains what happens in the brain when we grieve.
This guide is for adults grieving a mother or father, and for friends and family looking for something to give them. It includes memoirs, books on how grief works, poetry and novels, plus a novel for readers aged 12 and over and a picture book for children aged 3 to 5. A few picks are about other bereavements, such as losing a wife, and are included for what they say about grief itself.
For anyone who has found that grief doesn't follow the 'five stages'. Cariad Lloyd, whose father died when she was fifteen, found that model hard to reconcile with her own messy, non-linear grief, and draws on insights from experts and guests on her podcast, Griefcast.
For readers who want a memoir rather than a guide. After her father died, Helen Macdonald decided to train a goshawk, and the book follows her grief alongside the training. It is also about memory, nature and nation.
For people who want to understand what grief is doing to them. Neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O'Connor explains why it is so hard to understand that a loved one has died, why grief brings so many emotions, why it takes so long, and how it differs from prolonged grief.
For the hardest days of grief. This revised and expanded hardback brings together all of Donna Ashworth's poems for the bereaved from her earlier collections, along with previously unpublished poems.
A short journal (128 pages) that C.S. Lewis kept after his wife died of cancer, recording his grief and his crisis of faith. It is about losing a wife rather than a parent, and is included for its account of grief itself. This Readers' Edition adds responses from writers including Hilary Mantel and Rowan Williams.
A short novel (128 pages) for readers who want fiction. In a London flat, two young boys and their father face the sudden death of the boys' mother, and are visited by Crow, who threatens to stay until they no longer need him.
A novel about grief, love and family. Brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek, who seem to have little in common, are both grieving in the weeks after their father's death.
A novel about a daughter and her mother. After her mother, Carol, dies, Katy flies alone to Italy to follow in her footsteps, and finds more comfort than she expected, until her mother's past and her own present collide.
A novel for readers aged 12 and over. Conor has had the same nightmare nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, until a different monster arrives and asks him for the truth. The publisher describes it as a story about love, loss and hope.
A picture book for children aged 3 to 5 who have lost a grandparent. Syd and his grandad journey to an island where Grandad decides to stay, and the story shows how the people we love live on in our memories.
Yes. Cariad Lloyd's father died when she was fifteen, and You Are Not Alone is her guide to grieving. In H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald writes about her grief after her father's death.
The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor sets out to answer that question, drawing on her research into the neurobiology of grief.
A book of poems, such as Loss: The New Collection by Donna Ashworth, can be read in short pieces. Shorter books include A Grief Observed and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, both 128 pages.
Grandad's Island is about a boy saying goodbye to his grandad. Dadaji's Paintbrush is about a boy whose grandfather has died, and the publisher of The Hare-Shaped Hole suggests it for starting a gentle conversation with children about death and grief. All three are listed for ages 3 to 5.
Selected by Fox & Fable from books in stock. Last updated 30 September 2026.
If you're struggling, talk to your GP, or call Samaritans free on 116 123 (UK, 24 hours).
