LOVE, which is often seen as overrated, is real for author Pradeep Berry. His love and dedication to his wife are deeply rooted, unfathomable as what you will witness in this memoir.
With just seven dollars on hand, never in his wildest dreams did Pradeep Berry expect to meet a beautiful, intelligent wife in America. His family embraced Connie when they realized she was polite, smart, and self-made. She became the star of the family. Berry lovingly describes Connie's qualities, character, ethics, as well as her professional career. He observes that even though he's been in tremendous pain since she died, he would have never had such a long and happy marriage if he and Connie had not loved each other so much. Connie and Pradeep both considered themselves as two bodies and one soul, and he hopes they will again be two bodies and one soul in the next life.
Reviews for the previous edition:
"A debut author pays tribute to his deceased wife in this memoir. The prose style is sometimes stilted and other times histrionic. However, it occasionally achieves moments of quiet lyricism, as a result, it doesn't have much to teach readers about how to get over a loss. Rather, it's a raw document of the middle of grief and all the emotions that come with it. An emotional elegy that's somewhat undisciplined in style."
- Kirkus Reviews
"When a loved one dies, the grief can be overwhelming. For some survivors, this grief manifests in all different manners of behaviors in an effort to keep the memory of that lost loved one alive. For Mr. Berry, in the aftermath of the death of his beloved wife of 41 years, it manifested in him writing this loving tribute, My Connie."
- Pacific Book Review
"In 2015, author Pradeep Berry lost his wife of 41 years. His new memoir, however, isn't an account of moving through grief to healing; rather, it's a repository of his pain. Like a personal journal, its entries reflect his roller-coaster emotional state, recurrent thoughts about his wife's death and grief-stricken lamentations."
- BlueInk Review
"My Connie is a heartfelt, if repetitive, account of a husband's grief."
- Foreword Reviews