Description
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED, WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK of the YEAR, 2020. When Ian Ridley's wife, the trailblazing sports reporter Vikki Orvice, died of cancer at the age of 56, he found himself plunged deep into a sadness that he expected and a world of madness that he did not. In an attempt to make sense of it all and seek some solace from the brutality of his grief and anxiety, he embarks on a summer of watching county cricket. Reliving bitter-sweet memories in places he and Vikki had visited together, he is alternately unnerved and consoled by the ebbs and flows of his mourning. But gradually, against a backdrop of the County Championship's peace and solitude - with the sun on his back and tea, cake and crossword at his side - he finds a way to survive the rhythms and cadences of his grief. The Breath of Sadness is an unflinching account of how we carry on when we are left behind, and a poignant, tender and candid exploration of love and loss.
Trade Review"Ian Ridley's beautifully crafted memoir shows there is no right or wrong way to grieve, and yet grieve we must. A moving insight." JULIA SAMUEL, author of Sunday Times bestsellers Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass. "A fine meditation on life, love, death and grief forged during a gentle summer of county cricket." MICHAEL ATHERTON, former England cricket captain. "If there's ever been a more honest, intimate, visceral, unflinching account of grief than this, well, I'd be very surprised." CHARLIE CONNELLY, THE NEW EUROPEAN. "A heart-rending read. What Ridley has written in his wonderful book is a love letter to the game." JIM WHITE, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. "I have been immeasurably moved by it." VANESSA FELTZ, BBC RADIO 2. "A love song. Like all the best such tunes it is a sad one, yet also, in the end, life-enhancing." ALEX MASSIE, THE SPECTATOR. "Beautifully produced. A book that will bring comfort to many in that same sad but often inevitable place. Humanity is at hand." JOHN HOTTEN, WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY." Candid and ultimately life-affirming. One of those rare books that takes you on a journey you didn't want to have to take but feel privileged to be on." STEPHEN KELMAN, BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLISTED AUTHOR. "A wistful rumination on love and loss. Ridley balances fond recollection with candid admissions." SHOMIT DUTTA, THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT. "Ridley's quiet reflection in the solitude of county grounds is a backdrop to an extremely candid and brave - harrowingly so, at times - study of his own grieving process." MATT DICKINSON, THE TIMES. "A beautiful memoir. The Breath of Sadness is about music, food, books, hotels, holidays, films, flowers, cards, messages and presents. The things you remember; the things you find put away in drawers, the things that break your bloody heart." PAUL EDWARDS, THE CRICKETER. "Ridley writes with feeling on mourning a loved one in a book that finds companionship with two similar ones written by the surviving spouse: A Grief Observed by C S Lewis and the more recent The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion." SURESH MENON, THE HINDU
