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Spotlight, Review & Giveaway: Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go by Cheryl Krauter



Book Blurb & Info

Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go begins with the sudden death of Cheryl Krauter’s spouse. Five months later, in a stroke of irony and magic, her husband wins a long-desired guided fly-fishing trip in a raffle―and Cheryl decides to go in his place, fulfilling a promise to scatter his ashes by a trout stream.

Part I of this memoir is an account of the first year after Cheryl’s husband’s death, where she becomes an explorer in the infinite stream of grief and loss, a time traveler between the darkness of sorrow and the light of daily life. Part II concludes with stories of the poignant and humorous adventures she had during the ensuing year. Tying it all together and woven throughout is Cheryl’s account of the creation of an altar assembled during the three-day ritual of Los Días de los Muertos.

Poetic and mythological, Odyssey of Ashes is a raw story of loss and the deep transformation that traveling through darkness and returning to light can bring.

Buy Links
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Toot's Review by Betty Bee

I have read a lot of memoirs, but this is one that I can honestly say I will never forget. Reading 'Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go,' by Cheryl Krauter is like having a window into a life that has been touched by joy, love and grief.

Krauter lost her husband, John very suddenly one night. Months later, as she is still recovering from the loss, Krauter discovers that John has unexpectedly won a fly-fishing trip. It was the trip of his dreams!

For many of us, this might be a momentary distraction, something to laugh at or even cry over, but ultimately pass up. But fly fishing was John Krauter's greatest passion and something that he and Cheryl eventually ended up sharing as a hobby. Cheryl feels compelled to accept the trip so that she can spread John's ashes on the river that he loved so much in life.

Punctuated with remembrances of their life together, Cheryl writes about her trip along Madison river in Ennis, Montana and the trials of attempting to spread her husband's ashes. Although this is primarily a memoir about grief, it radiates peace, acceptance and ultimately joy about a life well lived.

Cheryl writes about her life with her husband in such a poignant and romantic way, while also making their relationship seem so easy and their love so uncomplicated. She has truly experienced both the highs and the lowest lows that life has to offer, and she writes about both beautifully. But, of course, Cheryl was not the only one who lost John and reading about her resilience as well as their son, Ben and John's family added an extra facet to 'Odyssey Of Ashes.'

This memoir is heartbreaking in a million different ways, both good and bad. Cheryl captures the magic of marriage, motherhood and nature in an unforgettable way, making this book unmissable for memoir-lovers everywhere.

Author Info


CHERYL KRAUTER is a San Francisco bay area psychotherapist with more than forty years of experience in the field of depth psychology and human consciousness. A cancer survivor, she is the author of Surviving the Storm: A Workbook for Telling Your Cancer Story (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide and Workbook for Providing Wholehearted Care (Oxford University Press, 2018). She lives with her personal assistant, a cat named Amie.

Author Links
Website: http://www.cherylkrauter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tellingcancerstories
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CherylKrauter

~Giveaway~


This giveaway is for 2 print copies and ends on September 4, 2021 at 12 am, PST. Entries are available via Rafflecopter only.

~To Enter~
Please fill out the rafflecopter below

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