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What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons, book review

'What We Lose: A Support Guide' is the title of the pamphlet Thandi, the narrator of Zinzi Clemmons' luminescent debut novel, receives in the post a few days after her mother has passed away. Sent by the hospice that looked after Thandi's mother at the end of her life, it provides a glossary of terms – 'grief', 'mourning', 'bereavement' – as well as practical tips regarding diet, exercise, and what to avoid (alcohol, caffeine). Thandi lingers over the word 'orphan' in the literature. She's not one, since her father is still alive. "But the condition isn't mathematical," she thinks. "The loss is what creates the condition. It's not the fact of one parent, but that the loss has occurred. It's the wound, not the parts that are left untouched."

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