© Columbia University Press
The Loss of a Life Partner: Narratives of the Bereaved
Paper, 304 pages, 0
ISBN: 978-0-231-11969-6
$33.50
/ £19.50
March, 2003
Cloth, 304 pages, 0
ISBN: 978-0-231-11968-9
$82.00
/ £48.00
"Extensively referenced, concisely written, and logically conceptualized with practical applications, this phenomenal book is essential reading for social workers who provide interventions for issues of loss, grief, and bereavement." — Social Work Today
"Walter offers 22 stories of individuals whose life partner died, presenting them against a tapestry of bereavement theories and issues. The widows and widowers describe the challenges of reframing their identity and life; particularly powerful are narratives and experiences of gay men and lesbians, because as disenfranchised grievers they lack the access to the legal benefits, supports, and social rituals of mourning . . . The captivating struggle of grief involves a crisis in meaning as bereavement shatters assumptions, support systems, coupled identity, and patterns of life." — Choice
"First of its kind...psychologists and counselors can benefit from this book." — Canadian Social Work
"Walter's book is well written, accessible and compassionate and certainly extends our understanding of the experiences and needs of bereaved partners." — Carole Smith, Journal of Social Work
"Well structured and accessible to both lay and professional readers." — Christine Valentine, Mortality
"With clarity and grace, Walter articulates traditional and postmodern bereavement theory, and illuminates these theories with moving narratives..." — Jeffrey Kauffman, Center for the Care of Community Institutions
"Well researched and rich with narrative material ... interviews with bereaved lesbian partners and grievers from other nontraditional relationships open up our hearts and our minds to the universal bereavement challenges.... An important contribution to the field of thanatology." — Robert Zucker, editor, Grief and Healing Newsletter