Book Review: What To Do When I'm Gone- A Mother's Wisdom to her Daughter, by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman.

Book Review: What To Do When I'm Gone A Mother's Wisdom to her Daughter, by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman.

Quote: Consider this curry making time and emotional safety zone. Relax and enjoy the process of trimming, dicing, and excising rotten spots just as you would excise the blight of love gone wrong from your broken heart.

A fear that every person who has a parent feels, the loss of their parent. Illustrator Hallie Bateman has constantly had this fear, an undeniable truth of future. So in her adult life she again had the dream of losing her mother Suzy. Eventually she asked Suzy to write a book that will help in future to cope up with the loss. Suzy wrote i,t and Hallie illustrated it.

I don't know how to perceive this book. My feelings are definitely weird, because it's not a posthumous book, fortunately Suzy is healthy and active. But this book has all the emotional elements of 'P.S. I love you' novel.

It is an epistolary tale, a motivational book, a cook book, an advice book and also a funny book. Throughout the book Suzy has maintained a very deep but witty humour. She loves her daughter and she advised her to write her obituary properly, rather put down what she doesn't want it. She doesn't want a fancy funeral but a peaceful resting place and a headstone with cryptic epithet to make people talk about her.

She puts in recipes, with recipes she puts in her two penny advices and concerns like: did you put on the gloves? She also advises on motherhood, old age, how to make friends and how to respond to grief. And what not to do when in grief.

Once I felt Suzy had died once to pick on the pieces of advice but then I realized, she re-examined her life to pick the best pearls of wisdom for her.

The art is beautiful, looks very simple, definitely avoids borders. It has no concept of panels but picked the form and style of picture book narrative. In general picture books attempt to keep the adult complications away for a child. But here the art and language blend in perfectly to give you the feeling of a lingering loss but there is always hope. And there are always memories.

My friend found themselves with the misty eye at the sight of the very cover. It's the name of the book that made me shiver at the end again.