JEDDAH: Saira Sheikh’s “Healing in the Shadow of Loss,” recently published by Liberty Books, is a memoir-style self-help book that emerged after months of journaling to cope with personal loss.
Sheikh is a Pakistani writer who was raised in Alkhobar and now lives in the UAE, and her in-between upbringing influences how she thinks about loss.
Once I began, I found myself reading on and on. Despite being a work that deals with difficult topics, it was not heavy on the heart as the author’s writing style makes it easy to approach and absorb. Sheikh writes the way a trusted friend or an older sister might talk to you, while never flinching from uncomfortable feelings.
The book is anchored in the loss of her mother. Sheikh writes about the months that followed with disarming honesty, including the difficult conversations she had with her family about seeking professional counseling.
She widens the lens to look at how loss changes our relationships and our sense of who we are. Her own stories sit alongside broader thoughts on healing and on the work it takes to go on living a steady, healthy life.
I appreciated that she leaves room for contradiction, showing that pain and gratitude can sit side by side, and so can sorrow and hope.
Her personal, introspective writing style is the book’s greatest strength. She tells you what happened, thinks aloud about what it might mean, and lets you reach your own conclusions.
This approach is particularly valuable in South Asian communities, where grief and emotional vulnerability are not always openly discussed. In many families, where love is often expressed through acts of care and togetherness, conversations about death and bereavement can be difficult to initiate.
Family and community can offer profound comfort, but cultural expectations to remain strong, carry on with responsibilities or keep painful feelings private can make mourning a lonely experience. Sheikh’s openness about her own loss shows that these conversations are possible.
The author also encourages readers to reconsider how they respond to pain and grief. What does it mean to support someone who is grieving? How do we distinguish between accepting a loss and suppressing the feelings it leaves behind? And how might we honor what we have lost while allowing ourselves to embrace life again?
Part memoir, part self-help, “Healing in the Shadow of Loss” is a gentle, generous companion for anyone navigating bereavement or trying to understand another person’s grief.