Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn has been a science and health journalist for twelve years, and has worked for such publications as The Washington Post and Harper's Bazaar. She holds an MFA. in science writing from Johns Hopkins University and is currently finishing a degree in public health at Columbia University.
Alison Smith author of Name All the Animals The Empty Room is one
of those quietly revolutionary books. Through her own grief,
through conscientious research and compassionate journalism,
DeVita-Raeburn tells the story of a forgotten grief. In our
culture, sibling grief is hidden. It is a nameless, faceless loss.
DeVita-Raeburn gives these siblings a voice. And in doing so, she
gives us back the story of our own lives.
Andrew Solomon author of The Noonday Demon The death of a sibling
is a curiously neglected area in modern psychology, and in The
Empty Room, Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn delves into this particular
and poignant category of trauma. Her book is compassionate and
generous and will be a great solace to people isolated in the pain
of such loss.
Helen Rosen, Ph.D. author of Unspoken Grief: Coping with Childhood
Sibling Loss Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn's The Empty Room is a very
welcome addition to the scant literature on sibling loss. In
telling her own story, as well as the stories of those she
interviewed for the book, DeVita-Raeburn draws us into the
experience of both children and adults who have lost a brother or
sister. It amazes me that sibling loss continues to go unrecognized
as the potentially life-changing event that it is. Here's a book
that acknowledges that pain and will help survivors begin to
heal.
Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D. Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical
Medicine at New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center and
author of The Best Treatment This moving book is a must-read for
anyone who has lost a brother or sister (and for their parents as
well) and needs help understanding and coping with their
emotions.
Joanna H. Fanos, author of Sibling Loss The journalistic skills of
DeVita-Raeburn, combined with her courage in sharing her own
personal story of her complex responses and feelings to her
brother's illness and death, have produced a book which represents
a significant step in portraying the profound consequences of
sibling loss. Her story is destined to reach the hearts of many
readers, not only those of us whose personal journey of discovery
and healing resonates with hers.
Judith Guest author of Ordinary People and The Tarnished Eye This
book is a factual description of my own fictional preoccupations,
and I found myself thinking over and over: The Empty Room is a book
that could save lives. Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn has offered a
wonderful gift, an invaluable source for both solace and
understanding. This book is not only for those who have lost
siblings, but for all of us who have siblings and have struggled
with the joys and mysteries of a mingled identity.
Judy Dunn author of Sisters and Brothers and professor at the
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London This is a poignant
exploration of a seriously neglected topic -- the impact of the
death of a sibling. It is a moving contribution to our
understanding of sibling relationships and will surely be helpful
to those coping with the grief of bereavement.
Reeve Lindbergh author of Under a Wing This is a brave, wise, and
above all open-minded look at a truth that seems to have been
ignored almost entirely: sibling love and sibling loss are as
profound as any other experiences in our family lives and do impact
us, enormously, forever. It's as if Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn has
opened a new window on a landscape I thought I knew, and suddenly,
after all these years, I see my own home ground much more clearly.
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