I Loved Him From The Day He Died

The new bestseller from beloved memoirist Michael Harding A stunning new memoir from the number one bestselling, award-winning author of All the Things Left Unsaid and Staring at Lakes.To mark his 70th birthday, Michael Harding took a holiday in Spain, walking a short part of the Camino de Santiago in the early summer of 2024. But as he set off on this pilgrimage, Harding wasn't alone. Accompanying him was his father, who passed away when Michael was just twenty-two. A man who was distant and aloof, but who had a profound effect on the writer's life.In, I Loved Him from the Day He Died, Harding travels back in time to the Ireland of his youth, to the Holy Wells and pubs he visited in a search for a sense of connection and he begins to unpack the long ago trauma of losing a father he never really knew.As he walks in the heat of the Spanish sun, with searing honesty and beautifully wrought prose, he examines how the father shapes the son -- and how the boy becomes a man in the search for that which makes us whole: belonging.And, as Harding arrives back home after his trip, he discovers, finally, how to say goodbye.Told with simple vulnerability and profound insight, I Loved Him from the Day he Died is a stunning and heartfelt examination of love, forgiveness and letting go.Praise for Michael Harding's writing:'A beautiful book of great tenderness and wisdom' Joseph O'Connor'I read this book in one sitting ... it held me and wouldn't let go' Mary McEvoy'Wonderful' John Boyne'Hilarious, and tender, and mad, and harrowing, and wistful, and always beautifully written' Kevin Barry'Extraordinary' Deirdre Purcell

''I wanted him to be someone he wasn''t. I wanted me to be someone I wasn''t.''A stunning new book from the number one bestselling, award-winning author of All the Things Left Unsaid and Staring at Lakes.To mark his 70th birthday Michael Harding travelled to Spain and walked the Camino de Santiago. Yet, as he set off on his pilgrimage, he found he wasn''t alone. Accompanying him on his 126-kilometre walk in theheat of the Spanish sun was the ghost of his long-dead father, a distant and aloof figure whom he lost when he was only twenty-two years old.Here, with searing honesty and beautifully wrought prose, Harding examines how this man, who had diedalmost half a century ago, could have had such a profound effect on the writer''s life.From the Ireland of his youth, to the time of his father''s death, and to the holy wells and pubs he frequented in search of a connection with a man he never really knew, I Loved Him From The Day He Died is a heartfeltexamination of love, forgiveness and letting go - told with simple vulnerability and profound insight.