There are certain kinds of grief no one should ever have to endure, but nonetheless happen every day. Losing the love of your life at an early age is one of these, and one that author Jennifer Stults had to endure. Although she expected to live happily ever after, life had other plans. Chronicling the journey of loss and learning to live with the pieces, Stults details a life she never would have, or even could have, imagined for herself and her daughter. The story she tells is in turn heartbreaking and heartwarming as she illustrates the stages of grief in startling clarity. 

In Carry on Castle, Stults relays the good, the bad, and the incredibly ugly that comes with unexpected loss at an extremely unexpected time in life. Her brutally honest narrative, and vivid details of the night her husband Dan died, leaves nothing to the imagination. During the course of the book she details each of the stages of grief and her own reaction to them. It’s a hard fact to accept that while life is shattered it must still go on, but Stults unflinchingly describes doing so, even on days when she has no interest in doing so. Despite the support system in her life, her family, Dan’s family, her friends, and her daughter, among others, the loss of her husband creates a vacuum that Stults feels powerless against, with the feeling resurfacing at the most random times. 

Stults’ book is just as much a roadmap for others dealing with the same grief as it is catharsis for her own journey. She is open about the fact that writing was never an aspiration of hers, yet her style and tone flow so easily, it would be reasonable to guess she had done it all her life. Even with the melancholy subject matter, Stults manages to infuse enough humor to keep it from becoming too heavy, as well as showing the value of laughter as a coping mechanism. For those who have suffered this type of loss, the book is a solid reminder that no one is alone in their struggles. For those that haven’t, it is a rollercoaster of a ride that they can never completely understand. Her candor helps to convey such an incredible story.

Carry on Castle is such a well written and riveting story that I’m certain wasn’t easy to put on paper. Whether you have been through a similar experience or not, Stults provides some wisdom for both sides of the coin.

Pages: 254 | ASIN : B07Q2DX7HG