Madison Davis

The Loved Ones: Essays to Bury the Dead is a collection of essays about a series of deaths personal to the author. Madison Davis writes about the tragic and unexpected deaths of her cousin and brother, a long illness resulting in the death of her father and an uncle killed in action. The writing is cathartic and reflective with many thoughts on death, grief, processing emotions and being left behind. The first story, the double murder of the author's cousin and friend, was surprising, terrible and deeply absorbing, pulling my attention right away. From there, the differences in how Madison and her family dealt with the deaths of other family members is observed with outcomes of tragedy, relief and humor. If you are someone who has ever lost a person close to you, you are sure to find something relatable and empathetic in Madison's contemplations. Some thoughts that I felt were deeply comforting and worth contemplating include Madison's thoughts on an overgrown cemetery:
"It's a place where the earth has gently, but powerfully, overwritten our sense of death and life as being experienced by an individual. It's where human desire to memorialize the dead meets nature's ambivalence toward that need."
As well as overcoming intense grief:
"I tell her to remember that we move through it. Sometimes with great effort- but remember that we do."

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (mehr)