Mary Ellen Berry, who lost her husband of 46 years four years ago, teams up with her daughter Carmen (Girlfriends; When Helping You Is Hurting Me) to pen this wise and valuable resource for widows. Relying heavily on first-person accounts, the Berrys seek to help widowed women discover their own identities as autonomous individuals and daughters of God. The widows interviewed include older women who were married for decades, as well as younger widows with small children. (The diversity in the interviewees' ages does not extend to other categories; a disproportionate number of these women were married to Christian ministers or missionaries, and they seem to be predominately white and middle-class.) The Berrys write honestly and with spiritual depth, speaking very candidly about the anger that many women feel toward God when their husbands are wrenched from them. They also address women's spiritual confusion when a prayed-for healing has failed to materialize. The individual stories help to bring the authors' points home; for example, a principle about the importance of reaching out and helping others is made tangible in an anecdote about Mabel, a widow who decided to host a dinner for bereaved spouses each Valentine's Day. Some themes could use more development; the chapter on finances, for example, comes up short at just 10 pages. Overall, however, this is a well-written, personal and encouraging guide for bereaved Christian women. (Sept.)
