Death of a Mother

Book design for “Death of a Mother” written by Lisel Krige.

Description: 117x180mm softcover weighing in at just over 100 pages.

Preface:

“Losing a mother in this life is extreme. Nobody should ever try to convince you otherwise: It cannot be any other way, regardless of perceptions, circumstances, negative feelings or claims of indifference; regardless, also, of the relationship you
shared while she was alive…

To motivate this statement is not difficult. Not only is a mother irreplaceable, but it is simply impossible for any other human being to share with you, even vaguely, the intimate biological bond that she does – from the very first moment of conception.
There is something indescribably precious and almost mystical about bearing a life with a beating heart deep within oneself – beneath your own beating heart – for nine months. Who can dare to deny this?

No estrangement between mother and child after birth, however drastic, can ever undo the integrity and the wonder thereof. In fact, alongside biological fatherhood – but definitely far more intimate and prolonged, it is the closest biological bond that can exist between two beings.

However – I also know that my daughter will not be able to understand the magnitude thereof until she is herself a mother.
Ironically, the sense of loss and deprivation when a mother dies may be felt even more strongly if you are bereft of her once you are yourself a mother. As I was when that day arrived in my life…”