About Long Climb Back
In her first novel, Long Climb Back: Trekking through loss and beyond, writer Rita Hartley traces the rocky and poignant path she took to recover from the sudden tragic loss of her husband and rediscover herself. The details of her story are taken from the daily journal entries she made during the first two years after his death, a time when she experienced more tears, ongoing family drama, and other losses than she thought she could possibly endure. Periods of intense loneliness mingled with old emotions, new emotions, and the process of rebuilding her life. As she began feeling stronger, Rita went on to accomplish an ultimate personal triumph she never expected: she trained to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, a lifetime dream that her husband had before he ran out of time. As part of the climb project, Rita raised money to grant a child’s wish through Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Whether you have experienced sudden personal loss or not, you’ll enjoy Rita’s easy storytelling style which mixes truth with humor, leading to an ultimate message we can all use: Life can be messy but it can also be magnificent!
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About Mt. Kilimanjaro
- A dormant volcanic mountain in Tanzania
- The highest mountain in Africa
- The highest free-standing mountain in the world
- Elevation: 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet above sea level
- First ascent: 1889
Statistics courtesy of Wikipedia
What Readers Say
Rita shares a visceral and personal perspective of her grief journey that is candid, painful, at times raw, yet uplifting, as she struggles to regain the power to move forward. She shares the complexity of her thoughts and emotional state and her ability, as well as her inability, to handle situations in a straightforward and unadorned fashion. A captivating read right from the first page.
This heartfelt story allows the reader to travel with the writer as she battles fear and all of the emotion that accompanies major life change. Both inspirational and motivational, by the end of the story, the reader must ask . . . what do I need to do to find me and could I make the climb?
Rita’s honesty took me back to when my husband died and the myriad emotions I have experienced, both then and now. I could relate to all of the confusion, anger and aloneness she felt. It is a privilege to have read this book and benefited from it.
Rita’s loss came at a time when her life was exactly where it should be: perfect marriage, teenage children and long-term friendships. The reader is struck by the power of one tumultuous moment unleashing a torrent of unrelated events into the path of a struggling individual.