每个人都以自己的方式处理悲痛。海伦•麦克唐纳在训练一只野生大鹰的过程中找到了慰藉。谢丽尔•斯特雷德（Cheryl Strayed）在徒步太平洋山脊小径中找到了力量。对于获得普利策奖提名的记者卡罗尔•史密斯来说，她正在与她七岁的儿子克里斯托弗的突然死亡作斗争，渡过悲伤之河的方法是工作。

在《过河》一书中，史密斯讲述了她如何通过报道一系列应对自身痛苦的人的情况——无论是改变人生的事故、伤害还是诊断——来面对她的失子之痛。这些都是关于生存和转变的故事，讲述了人们如何应对改变他们的意外事事件。史密斯巧妙地将这些人和他们的家庭的故事与她自己记录的这些人帮助她痊愈的经过结合起来。约翰•沙利卡什维利（John Shalikashvili）将军曾经是美国军队中最有权势的成员，他教会了卡罗尔用纪律和耐力面对恐惧。塞斯是一个患有罕见的不治之症的小男孩，他阐明了她儿子的全部经历，并反过来帮助读者明白，生命的价值不是用活了多少天来衡量的。

Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Helen Macdonald found solace in training a wild gos­

hawk. Cheryl Strayed found strength in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. For Carol Smith, a Pulitzer Prize­ nominated journalist struggling with the sudden death of her seven-year-old son, Christopher, the way to cross the river of sorrow was through work.

In Crossing the River, Smith recounts how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense chal­lenges, whether a life-altering accident, injury, or diag­

nosis. These were stories of survival and transformation, of people facing devastating situations that changed them in unexpected ways. Smith deftly mixes the stories of these individuals and their families with her own account of how they helped her heal. General John Shalikashvili, once the most powerful member of the American military, taught Carol how to face fear with discipline and endurance. Seth, a young boy with a rare and incurable illness, shed light on the totality of her son's experiences, and in turn helps readers see that the value of a life is not measured in days.