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OMBOMB: Spanning over a period of twenty years and four continents, Travelling with Ghosts reads like a collection of postcards the author wrote to her dead lover and, maybe, to herself.

A greatly inspiring and well-written story about human resilience and our ability to bounce back after a major tragedy.

United Kingdom on Jan 11, 2022

Clementi: A beautifully written account and superbly crafted book, detailing the journey on the road of bereavement, loss and grief after a terrible tragedy. The reader is travelling alongside Shannon as she walks her path of sorrow - the chapters alternate between before, after and at the time of the tragedy which brings home the reality of the grief to the reader. The book is also an education detailing many interesting facts about the countries Shannon visited - countries acquainted with grief and sorrow. I was deeply moved by the account of her visit to Israel, and the culture which upheld her during a difficult time. Woven into the story are interesting parallels too - such as how the journey ended where it began - in Barcelona. The book is not without humour despite the sorrow - and especially at the end I was in stitches at one point, over the translation of food and the tumbling Frenchmen! It occurred to me early on in the book that it would be impossible for anyone to get over such a tragedy, and so it was refreshing to read the author say this at the end. So often people are expected to gain 'closure' - but let's be honest, 'closure' is never reached on things like this - and...

United Kingdom on Jun 02, 2021

Elle: I recently read this book, and it is amazing! Shannon's experiences are so touching and full of portrayals of grief as it really is. It's not pretty, it's not fast. But it is full of learning and growing around your new reality after losing a loved one. Amidst all the heartbreak in her story there are definite moments that will help inspire faith in humanity, and help readers understand how grief is different for everyone, and how so many things can influence it, and potentially help learn how to help others that are grieving losses.

Canada on Mar 16, 2020

Jill: At first I didn't think I'd like this book but it got better and better. The countries Shannon visited in 2002 were mainly in a bad way, or coming out of a bad way and it was so interesting to read what they were like then. However I was most touched by Anat and Talia and how they supported Shannon. A very interesting and insightful book on how grief is different for everyone but also how to speak and be with bereaved people.

United Kingdom on Jun 21, 2018

Judy Reeves: This is a beautiful book, deep with love and loss and being in the world. Fowler's attention to detail brings us with her as she experiences the terrible circumstances of her fiance's death and her attempts to re-balance herself in the wider, not always safe, world. Love and loss and friendship all rendered in language rich with emotion and description. In rendering such specific and generous details, she also demonstrates the value of travelers keeping a journal of their journey, for their own sake, and in Fowler's case, for ours. I found this book brave and personal and painful to read, but ultimately fulfilling. We go on.

United States on Apr 22, 2018

Maya: Read this book at the recommendation of a friend, found myself unable to put it down. I felt as though I was traveling with Fowler, experiencing Sean's death as if I too were on the beach that night. Hopping back and forth from her present day to her travels with Sean to her week after his death made the entire book an emotional journey. The transliterated blurbs in foreign languages gave me a glimpse into her confusion amidst new cultures and customs. This book is not a travel guide nor a tragic and depressing story. This book is a journey of adventure, happiness, loss, death, grief, growth, and all other emotions that come with the highs and lows of life. So clear up your weekend schedule, make yourself a cup of tea, and read.

United States on Jul 02, 2017

Amazon Customer: Traveling with Ghosts by Shannon Leone Fowler is an incredibly powerful and haunting memoir, a deeply personal story of love and loss that I found hard to put down and couldn’t wait to go back to – something that may sound a little strange to say about someone else’s harrowing experiences (the tragic death of her fiancé, her struggle with the way friends and family dealt with her loss, and her physical and emotional journey through countries and cultures that approach grief differently), but this is a book with an immediate, universal appeal. This comes not just from the themes covered, but also the author’s ability to grab the reader’s attention from the opening line and to keep that attention and interest up to the final word through very well-honed prose (this is a writer with a real talent for painting vivid pictures), and the way the story is told: the complex narrative is made of various flashbacks that could have been clumsy or confusing in less skilled hands, but the flow between present, recent past and older, childhood memories is in fact seamless: it is as if you were in the author’s head, with her thoughts – yet this is no stream of consciousness, there...

United States on Apr 20, 2017

Kenna: I can't recommend this book enough. The author takes you through a winding journey through time, illustrating how memories can allow one to be on a hot Thai beach and hiking through snowy mountains in Eastern Europe all at once. She breaks open herself to the audience with a raw, unflinching, honesty that doesn't that doesn't spare the reader from pain or the author from criticism. She manages to capture the complexity of human feelings and emotions when life isn't fair and there may not be a meaning to be found. She doesn't hide the brutal thoughts that come with grief or the heartbreaking missteps that friends, family, and random strangers can make. The author takes you with her on her travels around the world to meet people and places that will cause you to fall in love and be broken into a million pieces, all at the same time.

United States on Apr 11, 2017

Keith Raffel: Normally, the best compliment you can give to any author is something along the lines of “I couldn’t put it down.” I can’t say that about Traveling with Ghosts by Shannon Leone Fowler. Instead, I say this book is so powerful, I had to put it down every 15 or 20 minutes. I needed to take time to catch my breath, slow my heartbeat, and reflect on what I’d just read.

This memoir deals with grief and loss. Fowler puts us inside her head and we see the world as she does. We feel the emptiness, the despondency, and the guilt she felt when her fiancé died on a Thai beach. We feel, too, the outrage at the Thai authorities who knew of the danger and did nothing about it lest tourism suffer. Our hearts go out in gratitude to the two Israeli women, all too accustomed to dealing with death, who help Fowler come back to life. There are no easy answers provided in the book. Fowler’s sense of loss does not seem to attenuate, but her ability to accommodate herself to it does grow.

United States on Apr 10, 2017

Amazon Customer: I read this book when on holiday in Brazil with my young family and was totally gripped from the start. For anyone who loves to travel this is a deeply sad, but truly beautiful, love story of a carefree young couple who had their whole lives ahead of them. Effortlessly moving between time zones as you travel with Shannon through her story. You get glimpses of the love that they shared, the tragedy on the beach and her incredible journey of discovery and loss. I found myself truly absorbed throughout. A must read. x

United Kingdom on Apr 02, 2017