A Heart That Works: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER as heard on R4's Desert Island Discs
Oct 2022 · Hachette UK
4.9star
36 reviewsreport
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192
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About this ebook
In this memoir of loss, acclaimed writer and comedian Rob Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind.
When you're a parent and your child gets hurt or sick, you not only try to help them get better but you also labour under the general belief that you can help them get better. That's not always the case though. Sometimes the nurses and the doctors can't fix what's wrong. Sometimes children die.
Rob Delaney'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. Why does he feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to make people feel something like what he feels when he knows it will hurt them? Because, 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.
This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process.
When you're a parent and your child gets hurt or sick, you not only try to help them get better but you also labour under the general belief that you can help them get better. That's not always the case though. Sometimes the nurses and the doctors can't fix what's wrong. Sometimes children die.
Rob Delaney'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. Why does he feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to make people feel something like what he feels when he knows it will hurt them? Because, 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.
This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process.
Ratings and reviews
4.9
36 reviews
Mike Hill
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November 3, 2023
I'm not a crier, not through wanting to be a tough guy or anything like that, it just happens to be that way. I certainly never imagined myself ugly crying, yet that's exactly what I found myself doing on every single page. Serious ugly crying, snot bubbles, the lot. This book is absolutely heartbreaking, of course it is, but it's also hilarious, validating, reassuring, honest and filled with gratitude. Most of all though, I think this book is about love, it is absolutely brimming with love. Sitting alone on my coffee breaks in my van, reading this book and bawling my eyes out, I've never felt more human. Please buy this book. Buy it and read it now.
Scott Smith
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December 9, 2024
outstanding read. often found myself tearing up but also found myself laughing at many of the quotes throughout the chapters. reading this really puts a perspective on life as a whole.
Ria K
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December 26, 2022
I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, cried again. It's a brutal, wonderful, sad, lovely book. Read it on the weekend, not right before work. Just read it.
About the author
Rob Delaney is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is widely known as the BAFTA-winning co-creator and co-star of the critically acclaimed Channel 4 and Amazon Prime comedy Catastrophe, which broadcasts in over 130 countries.
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