Prepare to have your heart broken when you read In the Cleft: Joy Comes in the Mourning. In return you will discover how people endure the worst of tragedies. With devastating honesty, Dana Goodman writes about the loss of her 30-year-old husband, her young son, and her mother-in-law to cancer. If that is not enough, she must also try to support her second husband through his cancer battle at the same time her son is diagnosed with a deadly brain tumour. She answers nightmarish questions that parents sometimes torture themselves with, such as how would a mother or father tell a beloved child that he is dying and there is nothing to be done to save him. Dana outlines with incredible insight her most desperate moments; her irrational, frantic efforts to ward off cancer; and her anger with the God she so deeply loves. She describes how her husband and son dealt with their terminal illnesses and how her younger son, other family members, and friends coped with events that seemed too terrible to be real. Yet, she also writes of hope, gratitude, and forgiveness. In the most beautiful but simple prose, she reveals how people are able to draw upon deep inner strength even in the darkest hours. Intertwined with the pain and sadness, there are tales of adventure and physical endurance, and humour. This uniquely personal book will help grieving people understand they are not alone. It will offer awareness to others who simply wonder why things happen and how those who are struck down by life's tragedies are able to emerge again into the light. In the Cleft: Joy Comes in the Mourning offers refuge to the saddest hearts and hope for all of us who fear we would not be able to go on. -Susan Duncan danagoodmaninthecleft.com
