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You Are Not Alone

The Sunday Times bestseller, from the host of Griefcast

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You Are Not Alone

By: Cariad Lloyd
Narrated by: Cariad Lloyd
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Bloomsbury presents You Are Not Alone written and read by Cariad Lloyd.

NEW STATESMAN, THE TIMES AND EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
‘Full of sense, heart and hope . . . the friend you need when you’re grieving’ PHILIPPA PERRY
‘This book is a game-changer. Read it before you need to’ DR KATHRYN MANNIX
‘It’s honest and warm and funny (in all the right places)’ JULIA SAMUEL

When Cariad Lloyd was just fifteen, she became the person-whose-dad-had-died; a mess of emotions and questions. She turned to the Five Stages of Grief model for guidance, but found its framework of loss was hard to reconcile with her messy and non-linear experience of grief.

In this wise and witty book, Cariad shares her grief road map – a collection of years of profound insights from experts and guests featured on her podcast, Griefcast – to remind us that you cannot do grief wrong. The flexibility of the map acknowledges that no two experiences of grief are the same and assists us in building a life around our grief.

So, welcome to the club. We know you didn’t ask to be here. But you will be okay. Because you are not alone.

‘A blackly funny, honest, thought-provoking and compassionate book’ THE TIMES
‘Feels like a warm bath . . . Lloyd's chatty writing style is familiar and funny’ NEW STATESMAN
‘A moving and funny meditation on loss’ OBSERVER©2023 Cariad Lloyd (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Death & Dying Grief & Loss Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships Sociology Grief Witty Inspiring Funny Thought-Provoking Comedy
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Critic reviews

Grief: it is unpredictable and funny and sad, and You Are Not Alone captures this beautifully ... It is a blackly funny, honest, thought-provoking and compassionate book that will be of comfort to all who know loss ... Her chapter on modern mourning is fascinating .... There is useful advice on how to talk to someone who is grieving .... Lloyd encourages us to consider our own death in a chapter that is confronting and important. Most of us don't want to think about it, but doing so could make life much easier for our loved ones ... As the chapters progress, we see her teenage irritation and anger soften into a longing to have known him better. I teared up reading the list of questions she has for him ... This is a book with great heart. As cliched as it might sound, you do feel less alone after reading it ... This book helps to break the silence around something we all experience. ''We live, we die. That's it. Isn't it strange and normal? Isn't it awful and ordinary?'' Exactly.
This book is a game-changer, a grief companion for our time . . . Practical, kind, honest, generous. Read it before you need to. You can thank me later (Dr Kathryn Mannix, author of WITH THE END IN MIND)
We do not talk enough about grief. Often, it is a lonely path. Cariad Lloyd has made it her life's work to make us feel less alone, like we belong to a club, like our grief is both collective and individual, that there is no right way to remember those no longer with us, and that there is great comfort in talking about grief and death. Told with humanity, humour and honesty, this is a book for all of us, because we will all experience grief at some point in our lives, and this book will make us feel less alone (Dr Nikesh Shukla)
Stunning . . . This is a necessary book for all of us, those new to grief, the old hands, or the simply curious to understand. Even though it is about death, it’s a guide book to life (Aisling Bea)
It is the secret desire of many artists to make themselves useful and Cariad has achieved just that. A wise, warm and important book (Robert Webb)
A pick-and-mix of insight into loss, filled with wit, warmth and wisdom (Alan Davies)
I love this book. It’s honest and warm and funny (in all the right places), and connects us to our most vulnerable and robust selves. Everyone should read it (Julia Samuel)
The most helpful book that I have ever read about grief…A book that you should read before grief takes over your life…I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough. Keep one with you at all times. At some point you, or someone you love, is going to need it (Fi Glover)
This book is a must for the grieving, the soon to be grieving, for those who want to be with others in their grief and, well, EVERYONE, especially all mental health professionals. Full of sense, heart and hope. A book that will hold you… Like the friend you need when you’re grieving (Philippa Perry)
All stars
Most relevant
Such a warm hug of a book. I was listening in the kitchen when the pin badge, saying you are not alone, made it's way through my letter box. I shed a tear, sure, but your voice is a comfort as ever, as it has been throughout my first three years in the club. Thank you for everything.

As some have mentioned, would have loved if it was just Cariad's voice all the way through but not sure why that's not the case. Appreciate having to narrate such a personal thing may be difficult. xx (if it is Cariad and they've just changed the pitch to make her sound younger, would recommend undoing that if possible)

Thank you Cariad

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Non-patronising, practical advice for getting someone to understand what ‘being in the club’ really is.

Really helped me

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I read this book after listening to a number of episodes of Cariad Lloyd’s podcast “Griefcast”. I liked the way she talked about death and grieving and how it was helping to give me the language to talk about my own grief about the death of my big brother, Gregory. This audiobook version is read by the author, so it’s nice to have her familiar and comforting voice and even the same theme tune from the podcast. She talks about her own grief about the death of her father when she was 15. It also includes clips of her guests from the podcast. It’s a good and useful book for people like me, in the early stages of grief; and it would also be useful to people who aren’t in Grief Club but want to be able to support and understand those who are.

The book feels quite choppy: going between the waves of the author’s own grief and more general advice and discussion about death and the grieving process. It made me cry really hard early on when she’s writing about her mother begging her dad to die, to go towards the light. But after that I was fine, if sunk a little deeper in my own grief, and more aware of it.

This is an important contribution in the cultural shift in attitudes towards grief.

Welcome to Grief Club

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a book about grief, that isn't telling you how to feel or how to behave, it's more like having someone just by your side as you begin to feel.

non judgemental

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As someone who lost their mum when I was 11, this book made me feel less alone in my grief journey. The emotions I’ve not been able to pin point Cariad describes perfectly. If you are someone who has experienced a significant loss in your life I can’t recommend this book enough :)

Comforting

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