When a family member dies, survivors often face a wave of emotion-laden legal and financial decisions. New and upcoming titles offer a spiritual perspective of the logistical side of death—from making funeral arrangements to settling estates.
After the Flowers Die by Renee Leonard Kennedy (End Game, Oct.) “focuses on the quandaries, frustrations, and expectations that occur months after the event,” says press founder Victoria Duerstock. Kennedy writes about relying on God for spiritual strength while also seeking out professional legal expertise, particularly in settling someone’s estate; “A sloppy executor does not bless your loved ones and only curses them,” she writes.
The Spirituality of Grief: Ten Practices for Those Who Remain (Broadleaf, Apr. 2023) by Presbyterian pastor and spiritual director Fran Tilton Shelton incorporates breathing practices, prayers, and meditations from many traditions. In the wake of her husband’s death, Shelton cofounded Faith & Grief, a nonprofit that offers bereavement support. Acquiring editor Valerie Weaver-Zercher says she looks for authors such as Shelton who offer a “combination of professional training and personal depth” and are “unafraid to attend to the deeply religious questions that arise when we face death and dying.”
Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life (Ulysses, Aug.) by Jordan Grumet, who also hosts the Earn & Invest podcast, prompts people not to wait until they near the end of life to address such fundamental questions as “Who do we want to be? What do we value? How important is money, and what are we willing to sacrifice for it?”
What Remains? Life, Death and the Human Art of Undertaking (Chelsea Green, Sept.) is by British undertaker Ru Callender, founder of the Green Funeral Company, which creates mourner-participation events that might be held on a beach, in a bar, or by a bonfire, says editor Muna Reyal. Reyal says the book encourages people to “search out their own individual, honest, and participatory ways to say goodbye for the last time” rather than being bound to traditions or religion.
