Maze of Mourning

In Maze of Mourning, Frieda Voorhorst describes the process of grieving after the death of her father. Her style is reflexive: in a detached way, she looks at her own emotions, thoughts and actions in retrospect. In this way, the book is contemplative without being weighty: it focusses on the dayly events in this period. The strong ties in the Voorhorst family between Frieda, her mother, her two sisters and her two brothers provide for a safe and harmonious background. Although the book concerns a sorrowful period, the writing stays light-footed. Sometimes the book is even outright humoristic. For readers who have to live through a similar period, the book makes consolatory reading, not in the least becourse the fases of the mourning process are so thoughtfully described. In this way the book can also function as a lived example of existing theories on mourning and grieving.