The First Signs of April by Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe

Wounds fester and spread in the darkness of silence. The swirling reds, oranges, and yellows of fall’s foliage dance alongside Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe like flames as she tears through the winding back roads of the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. Desperate to outrun memories that flood her mind, no matter how hard she rolls her motorcycle’s throttle, she cannot escape them.

Shut down and disconnected, Briscoe has lived her life in silence in order to stay alive. Her grief is buried, and shame is the skin that wraps around her bones—but then, following the brutal murder of a local teacher, she is forced as a grief counselor to face her lifetime of unresolved sorrow. Will she finally be able to crack the hard edges of her heart and allow in the light of truth so real healing can occur?

About the Author:




Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe is a licensed mental health counselor currently on sabbatical from her private psychotherapy practice in northeastern Vermont. She currently spends her time between Cape Cod, Vermont, and Ireland. She has a masters degree in clinical mental health counseling from Lesley University and is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and a Certified Trauma Professional. She has been a lecturer for Springfield College School of Professional and Continuing Studies St. Johnsbury, Vermont campus. She has contributed to Cape Woman Online and Sweatpants and Coffee magazine. This is her first book.  

Visit her website, her Facebook, and on Twitter.


My thoughts:

I wouldn't say that this book was easy to read, but I think it's due to the fact that it focuses, or rather, brings to light, something that our family has been going through this year.

Grief.

The death of a loved one, and the pain and confusion, anger and everything that comes with grieving, and at times NOT grieving that person.

Mary-Elizabeth takes us on an emotional roller coaster of a ride, as she herself goes through life trying to hide the pain of losing someone near and dear.  This pain itself catapults her into becoming a grief counselor, but as she comes face to face with the grief of a client she is trying to help, she must look within her own heart and allow some very sad, heartbreaking and difficult moments in her past, to rear their ugly head.

Through it all we are able to see who she really is, and gain some insight into how we can deal with our own grief. 

Quite an interesting book and I think it would be helpful for anyone going through the loss of a loved one.