Paul Scott Reaney lost his wife, Alison, to cancer after 30 years as friends, lovers, parents. It's a book aimed at men who've lost their wives and just don't want to feel quite as broken, alone and unique as they might feel. How To Lose Your Wife is split into two chapters, A Matter of Death & Life. There are chapters too written by the son (11), daughter (14) and new partner - a different perspective from different voices. Death 1. The Cancer 2. The Hospital 3. The Goodbye 4. The Aftermatch 5. The Funeral 6. The Ring 7. The Grief 8. The Children Life 9. The Drinking 10 The Running 11. The Money 12. The Dating 13. The New One 14. The New You 15. The Friends 16. The In-Laws 17. The Bond 18. The Father 19. The Mother 20. The Lessons 21. The Girlfriend 22. The Son 23. The Daughter 24 Alison It's a charcoal black comedy, a love story (or two), a damagingly honest account of what it’s like for a man to say goodbye to a woman loved uniquely. It's aimed largely but not solely at men who are similarly broken, lonely, and confused. Ultimately, How To Lose Your Wife is a story about what it's like to have your life crack and shatter and the beauty that can be discovered in building another. Give it a try and let me know what you think below. Here's an excerpt to give you a feel for it... Chapter 5. The Funeral. Today is the day I bury my wife. The clock says 5.53 am. It’s Thursday, February 1st, 2018. February 1st was an anonymous date until today. Not anymore. The morning is cold and still; even nature is penning metaphors now. Everyone’s a fucking writer these days. Chapter 8. The Children. In terms of The Kids, I didn’t get all of it right. If you asked them, they might tell you I didn’t get much of it right. If I’d have had my time again, I really wouldn’t have moved forward as quickly as I did. For my sake and for my kids. I tried to be happy as quickly as possible. It may have come across to my children as not caring. It was so much more complicated than that. Part of me literally couldn’t care, there was just too much to confront. Chapter 16. The In-Laws. When you lose your wife, there are layers to the collective grieving process. Think of it as a series of concentric circles, or an onion. Well, it does make you cry a bit. Chapter 20. The Lessons. “When my wife died, time changed. I started to interpret it differently, to bend it and shape it to my will. It became more valuable, easier to endure. I was able to indulge in it or ignore it. To speed it up or slow it down depending on how I felt. I can dwell in the happy moments and stretch them, to experience them as fully as I need. I move past the sadness quickly. Losing Alison showed me the fleeting nature of time. Clearly, it’s not around forever.“