{"product_id":"the-flower-bearers-9781399813983","title":"The Flower Bearers","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA moving memoir about grief, growth and sisterhood from acclaimed poet and author of \u003ci\u003ePromise\u003c\/i\u003e, Rachel Eliza Griffiths\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A beautiful and immensely powerful book about love, grief and finding a way to be in a forever altered world' J\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eulia Samuel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'The Flower Bearers \u003c\/i\u003egoes to some dark places, but there is joy, too . . . simultaneously a love \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003estory, a portrait of sisterhood and a visceral depiction of violence, loss and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eemotional devastation' Guardian \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lyrical and life-affirming . . . A deeply felt, expressive book that battles with despair and hope, ever searching for the latter' Scotsman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn September 24, 2021, Rachel Eliza Griffiths married her husband, the novelist Salman Rushdie. On the same day, hundreds of miles away, her closest friend, Kamilah Aisha Moon, who was expected to speak at the wedding, died suddenly. Eleven months later, as Rachel Eliza was learning to exist without her, a brutal attack nearly killed her husband. As trauma compounded trauma, Rachel Eliza realized that to survive her heartbreak, she would need to mourn not only her friend, but the woman she had been on her wedding day.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnd so Rachel Eliza chronicles her seventeen years of friendship with Aisha. From the moment they met in a college library, she knew she had found a soul sister. Their life together was filled with music: they danced to records in their apartments and skipped from one sticky jazz bar to another. Sitting side-by-side at poetry circles, reading Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, marching through Harlem protesting lost Black lives, Rachel Eliza drew inspiration and strength from her friend. Together they learnt to embrace themselves, as writers, artists, and Black women.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRachel Eliza interweaves this love story with another, that of her relationship with Rushdie, of the challenges they have faced and the depth of their connection. Celebrating the ways that these two extraordinary people have transformed her life, she reflects on the beauty and pain that come with opening oneself fully to love.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781399813983\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 27 Jan 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: John Murray Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.3(L)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eRachel Eliza Griffiths is an artist, poet, and novelist. Her recent hybrid collection of poetry and photography, \u003ci\u003eSeeing the Body\u003c\/i\u003e, was selected as the winner of the 2021 Hurston\/Wright Foundation Award in Poetry, the winner of the 2020 Paterson Poetry Prize, and a finalist for the 2021 NAACP Image Award. Griffiths' work has appeared widely, including \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e the Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Best American Poetry (2020\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e 2021)\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Tin House\u003c\/i\u003e, and many others. Her debut novel, \u003ci\u003ePromise\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 2023. She lives in New York City.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Flower Bearers \u003c\/i\u003egoes to some dark places, but there is joy, too . . . simultaneously a love story, \u003cb\u003ea portrait of sisterhood and a visceral depiction of violence, loss and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eemotional devastation\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eIn writing such \u003cb\u003ea raw and open tribute to courage \u003c\/b\u003e- Aisha's, Rushdie's, her own, as well as the writers who have gone before - she has reached an accommodation with that grief, and found a way to transmute it into poetry * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eAs \u003cb\u003elyrical and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003elife-affirming \u003c\/b\u003eas you would expect from an acclaimed poet, novelist and photographer . . . open and raw . . . powerful . . .\u003cb\u003e a deeply felt book that battles with despair and hope, ever searching for the latter\u003c\/b\u003e * The i *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA story of improbably resilience\u003c\/b\u003e * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eRachel Eliza Griffith's powerful memoir stunned me. \u003cb\u003eWith a poet's precision, she renders two interwoven tragedies few others could've lived through, much less written about with such clear-eyed candor\u003c\/b\u003e. Love powers both tales, and that's the source of the book's deep grace. She blesses us all with a survivor's singular memoir destined to be celebrated for aeons * Mary Karr *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA beautiful and immensely powerful book about love, grief and finding a way to be in a forever altered world\u003c\/b\u003e -- Julia Samuel\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003eprofoundly felt\u003c\/b\u003e account\u003cb\u003e moves between the raw, the lyrical, and the elegiac\u003c\/b\u003e as it seeks the light of healing * Kirkus, starred review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eUnsparing and full-throated.\u003c\/b\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Flower Bearers\u003c\/i\u003e, grief is to love as pain is to pleasure. Through the lens of a poet and documentarian, Griffiths deftly explores what it is to bear witness and to remain present. \u003ci\u003eThe Flower Bearers\u003c\/i\u003e offers a\u003cb\u003e transformative \u003c\/b\u003etestament to the fragility of life and the compulsion to look when others look away. Griffiths' call to document and make sense of the horror, the fear, and the gut-wrenching pain of loss is, at its core, an exploration of capacity, resilience, and the deeply human need to remain open to love in all its forms. -- A. M. Holmes\u003cbr\u003eWhat \u003cb\u003ea gift\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Flower Bearers\u003c\/i\u003e is. Tenderly, carefully, Rachel Eliza Griffiths excavates deep into matters of her heart, and her sentences make space for readers to do the same. Griffiths writes with beauty and consideration, not just about what happens when grief wrecks your foundations, but the light that emerges through those cracks. This is \u003cb\u003ea precise and intentional masterwork\u003c\/b\u003e, that reminded me of the power of love that endures. -- Caleb Azumah Nelson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eProfoundly moving\u003c\/b\u003e . . . an eloquent tribute to Griffiths' love for Rushdie and for her 'chosen sister' Moon - and a \u003cb\u003eheart-stoppingly vivid\u003c\/b\u003e account of what it's like to experience intense pleasure and deep pain in such quick succession -- Johanna Thomas-Corr * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eElegant and juicy . . . \u003cb\u003estorytelling unafraid of poetry\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Flower Bearers \u003c\/i\u003edoes the bold work of meticulously parsing women's lives and relationships . . . Those \u003cb\u003eintoxicating\u003c\/b\u003e, can't-stop-confiding-in-each-other moments are\u003cb\u003e soulfully rendered\u003c\/b\u003e throughout . . . an un-selfconcious conveyance of that time in life when nothing is impossible and dreams are jet fuel . . . \u003cb\u003ewhat glows here is a profound sureness of self \u003c\/b\u003ethat one usually comes by the hard way * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003epowerful and poetic\u003c\/b\u003e account of her pain. It makes for both a companion piece [to Rushdie's \u003ci\u003eKnife\u003c\/i\u003e] - and a counterpoint * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eLyrical and life-affirming . . . powerful . . . [Griffiths] writes beautifully about the uniquely difficult aspects of being a black poet' . . . \u003cb\u003ea deeply felt, expressive book that battles with despair and hope, ever searching for the latter\u003c\/b\u003e * Scotsman *\u003cbr\u003eAt the heart of the book is a\u003cb\u003e tender, fiercely loving\u003c\/b\u003e portrait of a friendship . . . A meditation on grief, resilience and transformation. With\u003cb\u003e lyrical precision and emotional clarit\u003c\/b\u003ey, Griffiths honours the people who shaped her life while reckoning with the cost of loving deeply. * Voice Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eRaw and moving . . . captures how creativity and healing can be life-affirming and restorative, especially in the depths of dark emotions. This self-portrait is sure to resonate with many readers thanks to its \u003cb\u003edisarming vulnerability and lyrical prose\u003c\/b\u003e * Observer Magazine *","brand":"Rachel Eliza Griffiths","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48852126531801,"sku":"9781399813983","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781399813983.jpg?v=1782390786","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/the-flower-bearers-9781399813983","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}