The Dead Wife's Handbook - by Hannah Beckerman

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

'Today is my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.'

Rachel, Max and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart stopped beating.

Now Max and Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her problems.

As Rachel grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope for.

Hannah Beckerman gives an unforgettable exploration of love and loss in her first novel, The Dead Wife's Handbook.

My Opinion:

*Book provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*

First of all I'd like to thank Hannah and Katie for sending me the book, I’m very grateful and happy about that.

Now, let's quickly talk about the cover, I think it's absolutely gorgeous. The colours are perfect and I adore the idea of the whole picture, with the woman and her hair, the flowers and the birds. The writing completes the beautiful picture and after having read the story, I truly believe it's a perfect match.

This is I think the first book I read from a death character's POV, but I loved the idea and I fell in love with the story on the first page already.

The way Rachel's feelings and emotions were described and also the way she was "still" part of the lives of her beloved ones was brilliant. I felt like looking down on the other characters and being a real witness to their story.

Max and Ellie are wonderful. Max is such a great and caring father and their connection and chemistry was so cute. Ellie is only seven and she already had to deal with her mother's death and Max?! He just can't move on. It was interesting and intriging to see how that developed, with Max starting to date again and Ellie reacting to this.

I adored Ellie in this book, so sweet and inncocent and she made me smile all the time.

Reading this from Rachel's perspective and still being able to understand the other characters was amazing. Nobody came short, not Harriet (Rachel's best friend), Celia (her mum) or Max's parents and his brother Connor.

They all had a special role in this story and they were integrated in it, in such an easy, but still marvellous way.

Then there was Eve, she was introduced to the novel step by step and she turned out to be such a lovely girl, with a hard background and so much love and understanding for Max and Ellie. It was difficult for Ellie of course, but I felt that these two ladies were going to be inseparable.

There were so many lovely scenes in this story (loved the one about Ellie’s first kiss or Eve and Ellie framing Max), also only small things which made my smile and made me enjoy this story so much. There was also enough drama and some difficult situations, which added the right spice to it and made the novel appear even more real.

It seemed that it was all about the other characters dealing with Rachel's death, but it was also Rachel herself dealing with it and trying to move on. It made me think about life from a different perspective and it really shows to enjoy all the little things as well, memories are a treasure to keep.

I know, I mentioned it before, but the thing I loved the most about this book is the brilliant way all the emotions and feelings of all characters were included and really came through.

I was able to dive into this story and experience every single part of it. The characters were so real and the scenes so vivid, I loved and adored this other world and I didn't want to leave it, I couldn't put this wonderful book down. I was crying one minute and then smiling again, a real roller-coaster trough various emotions.

Amazing job Hannah, I absolutely loved every single part of your debut novel, the idea, the characters, the marvellous writing, the cover etc. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ BRILLIANT!!!

Can't wait to read more!!! It calls for so many more awesome stories to come.

Rating:

My possible cast:

Ellie: Isabell Allen

Max: Hugh Jackman

Eve: Reese Witherspoon

Rachel: Courtney Cox

Twitter: @hannahbeckerman

Website:www.hannahbeckerman.com

Buy The Dead Wife's Handbook here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Wifes-Handbook-Hannah-Beckerman/dp/0718178149

Happy publication day Hannah!!! Hope you're celebrating ;) xxx

This debut novel is marvelous, so go buy it now, you won't be disappointed.