THE UNDISTRACTED WIDOW
Living for God after losing your husband
By Carol Cornish. IVP. 208 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 844 744 916
Two years into my own widowhood, I was ready to read a book with such a title, and in many ways I found it helpful. It is the author’s desire to point the widow to Christ, and she does this very well. Crammed full of good, solid, biblical advice, backed up by Scripture references, the book covers many important and helpful topics such as ‘Grieving in a godly way’, ‘Overcoming loneliness’ and ‘Cherishing Christ’.
However, I feel that the book somewhat reflects the author’s own background. In her introduction she says; ‘My counsellor training emphasised the writing of plans to work out strategies for overcoming problems’. While this, of course, can be helpful, widowhood can bring complex issues, depending on the circumstances of the husband’s death, the age of the widow and also the situation that the widow is left in. In a book that is otherwise thorough, there is a significant gap in dealing with issues for the younger widow who has the responsibility of raising children by herself, new demands of having to work to feed the family, as well as all the everyday concerns life brings. The intensity of the book could therefore be overwhelming, especially to the recently widowed. Strategies are not always neatly worked out in the complexities of life. I would, therefore, only pass this book on to others with care.
