Being Adam Golightly: One Man’s Bumpy Voyage to the Other Side of Grief

by Adam Golightly

The cruel early death of his wife Helen tears up the script of Adam Golightly’s middle-class, middle-aged existence. Miserably single, outnumbered by his kids and haunted by life’s screaming fragility, he recounts his fight back against the hand of fate. This irreverent and frank memoir follows Adam’s snakes-and-ladders journey through his grief following his wife’s death, as he struggles with small town tongue wagging, the trauma of teenage bra shopping, and online dating anarchy. Adam’s is the biggest mid-life crisis anyone could face and, as he starts to build a new, alternative life for himself and his children, he shows not just how to survive bereavement but how to be transformed by it.

352 pages, Paperback

Published February 8, 2018

Reviews

[Jessica Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written from the perspective of a recently widowed man about his life changed by bereavement. Initially I found the overriding topic of loss of love quite depressing and considered if I wanted to continue reading, especially as I could not relate due to not having gone through the same experience as Adam. Additionally, I found that some of the humour in places could not cover how macabre the topic really was, and was not my cup of tea. However, towards the end Adam brings all his revelations to head, in which I was won over as he gave some important findings about how to be happier in life, and gives hope to all people, whether bereaved or having other losses in life.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written. I wasn’t familiar with the column that the book relates to, but that didn’t really matter. It is a nice format, lots of small, manageable chapters, and, as with all things grief and death related, a much needed view on the adaption to the new ‘normal’. There can never be enough people writing honestly about their adjustment process, their highs and lows, the things that helped and hindered.

[Caro Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and admire that Adam Golightly is clearly getting on with living without that diminishing any love he has for Helen. There is quite a lot of crossover with the Guardian columns, which I read before so that's why this is a 3 rather than 4 star review.