A tenderly-written but nonetheless tough love story

A tenderly-written but nonetheless tough love story, February 6, 2013

By 

Kim

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This review is from: One Last Love (Paperback)

Derek Haines very capably puts the reader in front of one of life's imponderables, death - coming swiftly face-to-face with the reality of the unavoidable and immense finality of our lives and discovering a last love at the same time whose beneficial effects would ease the inexorability of the final days.

Delicate, touching yet matter-of-fact as to what was happening and what would happen. Heart-wrenching, although I cried inside - this book made me reconsider my own life, how would I react in similar circumstances (can never be ruled out), how would I face it, how would I look back on days past, what regrets would I have? Made me reflect a lot, which is no bad thing.

It also made me feel hope for people in these circumstances, the knowledge that it was still possible to find some happiness, which in itself can bring relief, albeit temporary.

This book left me with a feeling of, difficult to describe, emptiness in knowing that for the hospice inmates, there was no foreseeable future, and understanding their need to live each minute of each day to the full while they could.

A tough but very worthwhile read, and one that I highly recommend - some Kleenex necessary.

I might come back to this review later, as my thoughts are still fairly jumbled.