Cathy Rentzenbrink – The Last Word Book Review

Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books by Cathy Rentzenbrink

Summary:

For as long as she can remember, Cathy Rentzenbrink has lost and found herself in stories. Growing up she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, books kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help.

Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another.

My Review:

Last week I wrote my review for one of the most beautiful books of this year and then deleted it as I believe it did not do it justice. Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books (Picador) by Cathy Rentzenbrink is really a life full of the love of books.

There is nothing better that having conversations about reading and our favourite books, and those that we have loved throughout our life. Like a song that is played on the radio that can stop you in your tracks and bring back a memory, special books can also play exactly the same role in our lives.

Dear Reader is Cathy Rentzenbrink’s memoir of her favourite books that have been a great comfort through her life as a reader, bookseller and also writer and journalist. Cathy has had a career in bookselling starting at Harrods and then moving to Waterstones and then became manager of her own Waterstones store later moving to The Bookseller. Not an easy start at first but the hard work soon paid off. Cathy is nothing but inspirational to anyone who loves books.

What you find in Dear Reader is Cathy’s unique warmth as she takes the reader through her life. It is moving and yet there are humorous moments that stand out. But anyone who has read The Last Act of Love will know that Cathy’s life has not been without tragedy and through those dark times books kept her going. As she says in the pages of Dear Reader, that reading has saved her life time and time again. This is a book that you will find that is like sitting in a coffee shop and having a warm conversation with a close friend.

During these difficult days, Dear Reader is like a harbour on a stormy night safe in words of comfort. I have already purchased a copy for a close friend in need. There are many reading recommendations throughout and Dear Reader is one book I am delighted highly recommend.

240 Pages.

Cathy Rentzenbrink (@CatRentzenbrink)

Picador Books (@picadorbooks)

Thank you Camilla Elworthy (Pan Macmillan) for the review copy of Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink

The Last Act of Love – Cathy Rentzenbrink

2019 marks the 10^th Anniversary of the Wellcome Book Prize. As part of the celebrations there is a Blog Tour and each of the winning books from 2009 to 2018. I am delighted today to bring you the winning book from 2016. The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink.

This is the true story of Cathy’s brother Matt who in 1990 was hit by a car on the way home from a night out. As Matt lay in hospital just a few weeks before his GCSE results were to be announced Cathy and her parents sat beside Matt as he lay unconscious. Matt was never going to regain consciousness. Then as the hospital announced that there was no more that they could do for Matt they decided to take Matt home and for eight years they cared for him. Then the painful decision to apply to the courts to allow them to withdraw feeding him and allowing Matt to die.

This is an immensely powerful and moving memoir that tells the story of those years and the utterly heartbreaking decision to allow Matt to die. The pain and guilt must have been so overwhelming as hard as a decision as it was it was a decision to allow Matt to finally rest in peace and allow both parents and Cathy to grieve and start the long road to live again.

But for Cathy this was no easy journey, the grieving continued and depression sets in. Days when she thought she could cope but the depression was always in the background. It is not easy to write about someone so close to you and their death and how it hits you even years later always hoping for a miracle. Sadly, for Matt there was no miracle and left Cathy in a void. She sometimes believed it would have been better if it was her not Matt involved in the hit and run.

We are left to cope, they say with time it gets easier and life goes on? But the guilt remains. Why Matt and not me?

The Last Act of Love is devastatingly raw and powerful but also one of courage. Highly Recommended.

256 Pages.

Thank you to Charlotte Cooper (Midas PR) for the copy of The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink

The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink was published by Picador and was published on 2^nd July 2015 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.