What God Is Honored Here? - Shannon Gibney and Kao Kalia Yang

From the foreword to the last story I couldn’t stop telling myself how much this book was needed, and how helpful it is going to be to so many people. Apart from on the baby boards and on some blogs, we don’t really talk about miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, even though statistics tell us that we should. And the blogs that do contain stories that we can easily find are usually written by middle class white women. (There is actually one story in the collection that discusses exactly this, and my head was nodding along in agreement as I was reading it). It’s so important that we let everyone tell their story, and that every woman’s story be available to all to read. This is why What God Is Honored Here? is such an important book: it is a collection of stories of infant loss and miscarriage by women of color and native women.

These stories are going to rip you apart. I was in tears through most of the book, and found the courage and strength of all of these women just incredible. Each and every story is beautifully written, heartbreaking, and provides us with an image of how grief and loss are handled in so many different ways. I also think that this collection provides those who are on the sidelines with ways to react and help when a loved one is going through the horrors of miscarriage and/or stillbirth. Sometimes we try too hard to find things to say that we think may comfort someone, when in the end an “I’m sorry” and a hug are better than words that hurt rather than comfort.

A huge thanks to the editors Shannon Gibney and Kao Kalia Yang for compiling these stories, and for all of the writers for making themselves vulnerable and telling their stories.

Thanks also to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advance copy of the beautiful book with me!