Of Laughter, Love And Life

Family For Beginners by Sarah Morgan is a delightful contemporary tale that will swell your heart.

The novel is about love, loss and family. Family is important. It represents security and it is where we belong. When loss threatens to tear apart the very foundations, a family needs to learn how to belong again.

Not everyone is fortunate to have a loving family. We see a character who felt like excess baggage following the death of her mother. She has spent her whole life looking for love and putting others first. “She wanted to be important to someone.” This is such a sad emotive statement.

When someone dies suddenly, regrets and guilt pile up – guilt over what we did or didn’t say or do, and guilt for being alive. “You’re afraid that if you laugh, it might appear that you loved the person less.” We need to learn to live again.

Everyone handles loss in a different way. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. We must just muddle through as best as we can.