Promotional Information

Drawing on both her personal losses, recounted in her memoir The Rules of Inheritance,as well as her background working in hospice as a bereavement counselor, Smith attempts to show how exploring the afterlife can have a positive impact on the grief process.process.

About the Author

Claire Bidwell Smith is the author of The Rules of Inheritance and After This. The Rules of Inheritance has been published in seventeen countries and is currently being adapted for film. Claire has a master's degree in clinical psychology and is a therapist specializing in grief. She regularly teaches writing workshops and gives talks on both writing and grief. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including The Huffington Post, Slate, Salon.com, Chicago Public Radio and BlackBook. She lives in Los Angeles with her two daughters. www.clairebidwellsmith.com

Reviews

Praise for After This:

"With wisdom and grace, Claire Bidwell Smith navigates the mysteries of grief to show us that there is great meaning and even magic to be found in exploring the unknown."
--Maria Shriver, bestselling author of What's Heaven?

"This is the book I wish I had when my husband died. Claire took me on a quest attempting to answer all the crazy questions I had after his death. Engrossing from page one all the way to the very end." --Christina Rasmussen, author of Second Firsts: Live, Laugh and Love Again

"Claire Bidwell Smith, with her writer's heart and therapist's mind, has written a stunningly generous book alive with curiosity, humility, skepticism, and bravery. In After This you will teeter on the edge of the Spirit world; and whether you believe, or wish to, or simply can't, Bidwell Smith has written one of the most inspiring books about death you will ever read." -Christa Parravani, author of Her: A Memoir

"A transfixing ode to the enigmatic cycle of life and death, After This will resonate with seekers and skeptics alike. Grief therapist Claire Bidwell Smith explores in lyrical prose tricky existential terrain with compelling philosophical persistence, humility, and poise. You will not forget this book." --Aidan Donnelley Rowley, author of Life After Yes

"With deep compassion, profound vulnerability, and transcendent lyricism, Claire Bidwell Smith embraces that which we so often run from in this culture: loss. This is a transformative book that will change the way you think about death, and by extension, life."
--Jillian Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls

"In this eloquent, smart, funny and deeply thoughtful book, Claire Bidwell Smith takes us on a powerful journey of discovery. She asks the most important questions about life, love, death, and what it means to be human, and does so with equal measures of skepticism and a broken-open heart. By doing so, she becomes an utterly trustworthy guide. Reader, follow her. You'll be so glad you did." -Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion and Still Writing

"Claire Bidwell Smith's tender journey of love and loss will leave you feeling connected and hopeful." --David Kessler, co-author of On Grief and Grieving with Elisabeth Kubler Ross.