Guest Book Review: Odyssey of Ashes by Cheryl Krauter, Reviewed by Linda Lu – AND a Giveaway!

Today I’m pleased to introduce you to Linda Lu who will be providing a guest review of Odyssey of Ashes by Cheryl Krauter. Linda will be back from time to time, so be on the lookout for her! Thanks to her – and to Teddy Rose! – for facilitating this post. 

Also, be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of the review!  This giveaway is for 2 print copies and ends on September 4, 2021 at 12 am, PST. Entries are available via Rafflecopter only.

About the Book

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.

About the Author
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.

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

The Guest Review by Linda Lu

‘Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go,’ by Cheryl Krauter is both a reflection of the author’s life with her husband, and a moving story about finding her way through life after his death.

John Krauter died suddenly of a stroke in their home, leaving his wife with not only the trauma of having witnessed his death but also the grief of facing life without him. As Cheryl is learning to navigate the choppy waters of life on her own, she soon learns that John has won a once in a lifetime fly fishing trip via a raffle.

John was an avid and passionate fly fisherman and Cheryl is a fan of the sport, herself after using it as a form of therapy while recovering from breast cancer.  Though she enjoys the sport, Cheryl is initially hesitant to take advantage of the trip, but eventually she decides to go, bringing her husband’s ashes with her to spread over the river.

The second section of the book, which features Cheryl recalling the trip, is irreverent, funny and touching. Everything from the format of this book, to the sections where the author talks about her son, her life with her husband and the different fly-fishing trips that they took works together to create a stunning memoir.

Cheryl Krauter’s writing is beautiful. Through the flashbacks to her life with her husband, she makes an effort to remember him for who he was in life, and not just talk about how he died. This is an excellent memoir for anyone who has lost someone close to them, or who has experienced grief. I could see this being very healing for many readers. I found this memoir both comforting, and enlightening and Cheryl’s remembrances made me remember some of the special people in my own life.

About the Guest Reviewer

Linda Lu has been an avid reader since she was about 5 years old. When she was younger she enjoyed writing book reviews for herself. Now she enjoys sharing her opinion on books with other readers. She is a very eclectic reader and loves trying new genres as well as old. If she could only pick a few, she would have to say historical fiction, mystery, and literary. she also loves the classics. She loves spending time with he dog, Steinbeck. They take long walks together and love to cuddle. He enjoys it when she reads to him, even if he doesn’t understand.

The Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway