When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis ─ Life After Death and a Dog Called Boris

Writer Helen Bailey's world fell apart in early 2011 when she and her workaholic husband took off on a well-earned break to Barbados and days after arriving Helen watched helplessly from the beach as he was dragged out to sea in a rip-current and drowned. Alone and more than 3,000 miles from home, she was a wife at breakfast and a widow by lunchtime. With her life as she knew it shattered, Helen began to chronicle living after such devastating and shocking loss in a blog—Planet Grief—and gained a worldwide following from many who had experienced huge loss, whether through death or divorce. And now her blog has become a book. Anecdotal, witty, heartbreaking and utterly grounded,When Bad Things Happen to Good Bikinis covers all the obvious struggles in the aftermath of a loss, as well as many not-so-obvious but just as poignant everyday obstacles. Helen has emerged from her nightmare, and her story will bring wry humor, comfort and hope to a huge number of people, whatever their circumstances.

Helen Bailey is the author of more than 20 books of short stories, picture books and young-adult fiction. With her late husband, she ran one of London's leading character licensing agency handling such internationally renowned properties as Snoopy, Nintendo, Rugrats and The Simpsons, later forming the company which launched the publishing phenomenon Felicity Wishes. She now lives with her new partner and his two sons.