MEMOIR Love, Death & Other Scenes Nova Weetman UQP, $34.99 There is a great deal to think about in this tender book. It allows the reader to spend time with their own experiences of grief and to ponder all the mysteries, both great and small, that grief brings with it.
At the same time, Nova Weetman invites us to share a story that belongs only to her. Grief is one of the most common human experiences. It is often packaged or padded in familiar expressions, all of which are well-intentioned but few of which get beyond the carapace of coping.
Yet stories of grief, with all their tastes and smells and coincidences and unruly emotions and loneliness and connection and unexpected peace, are all unique. Weetman’s is a treasure chest of honesty and raw humanity. Nova Weetman has written a tender book about her experience of grief at the death of her partner of 25 years.
Credit: Darren James Nova Weetman’s partner of 25 years, the celebrated playwright and actor Aidan Fennessy, died of cancer in Melbourne during one of the many lockdowns brought about by the pandemic. His memorial service was delayed by 15 months and when it finally happens “it is like being at a party where the guest has forgotten to arrive”. It also feels like “organising the opening night of one of your plays”.
This is especially poignant because the opening night of Fennessy’s final work, The Heartbreak Choir , took place on a rainy night in April 2022, soon after he had died. An empty chair was le.