This Shining Life

Harriet Kline works part time registering births, deaths and marriages and writes for the rest of the week. Her story Ghost won the Hissac Short Story Competition and Chest of Drawers won The London Magazine Short Story Competition.

Other short stories have been published online with Litro, For Books' Sake, and ShortStorySunday, and on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Bristol with her partner and two teenage sons.

A captivating, emotional novel that weaves together an achingly beautiful picture of love in all its forms.

'An exquisitely beautiful and compelling novel about love, loss and life' Rachel Joyce
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For Rich, life is golden.
He fizzes with happiness and love.

When Rich dies, he leaves behind a family without a father, a husband, a son and a best friend.

His wife, Ruth, can't imagine living without him and finds herself faced with a grief she's not sure she can find her way through. At the same time, their young son Ollie becomes intent on working out the meaning of life. Because everything happens for a reason. Doesn't it?

But when they discover a mismatched collection of presents left by Rich for his loved ones, it provides a puzzle for them to solve, one that will help Ruth navigate her sorrow and help Ollie come to terms with what's happened.

Together, they will learn to lay the ghosts of the past to rest, and treasure the true gift that Rich has left them: the ability to embrace life and love every moment.

Readers have been moved by THIS SHINING LIFE:
***** 'Compelling, bittersweet and beautifully written.'
***** 'This book will make you weep and laugh. It is so raw and real that I could feel what the characters are going through.'
***** 'Beautifully observed, compellingly written. I found it incredibly moving and I couldn't put it down.'
***** 'Harriet Kline conveys beautifully the whole range of emotions experienced by different people.'
***** 'I love this book from start to finish.'

'This captivated me...This beautiful book shows us that grief is not a problem to solve, but an expression of love, as we watch a family come together in the most heartwarming way.' Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward

'This Shining Life gives us a heartbroken family, complicated and familiar in the best ways, going through the hardest of times but finding love and hope and, especially, one another.' Laurie Frankel, author of This is How It Always Is, the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick