Book Review: "Grave Talk" by Nick Spalding

Since her husband Joe died suddenly six months ago, Alice isn’t having an easy time coping. She still reaches for him in bed every morning, and talks to him quite a bit. She wonders if the loss will ever get easier to bear.

On Joe’s birthday, she decides to visit his grave by herself for the first time, but it’s far too much for her emotionally, and she briefly falls apart. When she pulls herself together, she’s stunned to see a man dressed like Kermit the Frog standing by the grave next to Joe’s.

Ben is mourning the death of his older brother Harry. Harry was quite the prankster, and in his will he stipulated that once a year Ben must visit his grave and stand there for three minutes. And Ben must wear an embarrassing costume that Harry picked out for each year.

The intensity of grief that both feel creates the spark of a friendship. The time they spend talking to one another feels cathartic, because both know what this grief feels like. They make a promise to meet at the gravesites the following year on the same date.

Each year, they both arrive at the cemetery. Alice usually laughs when she sees what costume Ben is wearing. And as they talk and share the emotional crises and challenges each has faced through the year, both begin challenging one another to make a change here or there, in the hopes the changes will help. Does grief get easier over time? Can you move on to a new phase without forgetting the person you’ve lost?

I loved the concept here, but felt it fell short in execution. Both Alice and Ben are understandably miserable, but it often seemed as if they were willing to remain in this state forever rather than confront the issues and people that were holding them back. While there certainly are emotional moments, I found myself more frustrated than sad.

The book will publish 11/1.