At the age of 59 Viv Chadwick is diagnosed with cancer. Sixteen days later she looses her battle with the disease and passes away. Rachael, the eldest daughter,is completely devastated along with the rest of the family and friends, colleagues and pupils at the school that she taught at.

This happen shortly before her mother 60th birthday, and as she is beginning to piece her life back together, she remembers that her mum always wanted her to write, and so she conceive the plan to write and distribute 60 postcards around the lovely city of Paris in memory of her mother. These postcards are telling the finder why she has done this, and are asking what they were doing when they found the postcard and to send photos. She gathers 12 of her friends for a long weekend in Paris, and between them they leave the postcards in cafe's bookshop and in other locations in the city. As the party drifts back home, Rachael begins to wonder if she will ever hear back from any of the finders.

And she did not have to wait long either; a few days after returning to London, the first person replies to her saying where they found it. Soon there are more replies and people starting to share the way that she is doing this tribute to her mother. From this she meets a number of people, visits New York to scatter more postcards, and ends up writing this book.

As Rachael says in the book, she wears her heart on her sleeve, and reading this account of her grief and tribute to her mother does make for sad reading. But in all the sadness is joy too. Her mother not only inspired her and her sisters, but also those that she taught and was friends with in the local community. And as this is my local community too, there are many reference to local places and people.

The 60 postcards project was a simple, yet effective, project to honour her mother. It is both moving and inspirational. http://60postcards.com/ ( )

Do you ever think things happen for a reason?

At the end of February, I was pondering, debating and trying be brave whilst making a decision and the right decision about my Mum's belongings.

I had just had an idea and parked the thinking whilst I went to meet someone, who I knew, but I could not think of a good enough excuse not to meet. Whilst I parked my idea and was killing some time in the Exeter branch of Waterstones I spotted two books. This one, and the book that I reviewed yesterday.

From the moment I picked up the two books I knew that my idea was right, and the scope of this book (and other book reviewed yesterday) confirmed it.

The author, Rachael lost her Mum to Cancer in February 2012. The book centres around the early days of discovery into her Mother's condition. The emotions that Rachael felt were not too dissimilar to my own reactions after my Mum passed away. That feeling that doing the regular stuff, such as eating, cooking dinner, watching the news. It all felt so very, very wrong. I get it, I really do. Rachael's Mum was far too young to pass away and from the date of diagnosis to her death was a staggering 16 days.

Rachael gathered together twelve or so friends and arranged a weekend in Paris. The mission was to spread the message of her Mum's story and the love she felt for her Mum across Parish over 60 postcards in recognition of her Mum's 60th birthday.

The remainder of the book expresses the many laughs, thoughts, tears Rachael had on her emotional journey. The coincidences of people who picked up the postcards, and wrote to Rachael inspired on by the courage of both her mother and Rachael.

I am not going to share more of the book with you. I found it a fabulous book. Written in a conversationalist style, with true emotion that is so very easy to identify with. This is a book on so many levels. Understanding yourself, grief, dealing with the whole process of bereavement, discovery, travel, love, family and friendship

The book spoke volumes to me, without even physically speaking.

Rachael's website can be found HERE ( )

"Before you start this book, please buy a blank postcard to use as a bookmark."

It seemed a simple request, and it so happened I had a blank postcard in my desk drawer, so I decided to humour the author and do as she asked. Exactly why is revealed in the last pages of this touching and inspirational memoir.

Rachael Chadwick was devastated to lose her mother, Vivian, to cancer just sixteen short days after her diagnosis in 2012, and struggled through the subsequent months without her, which included the wedding of her younger sister where her mother's absence was keenly felt. With what would have been her mother's 60th birthday approaching, Rachael, still mired in grief, made a decision - to celebrate and honour her mother's life in the most imaginative and creative way she could think of, and so the '60 Postcards' tribute was conceived. Sixty handwritten postcards bearing a simple message about her mother and Rachael's intent, also inviting the finder to get in touch, were scattered around the city of Paris.

To share both the details of the memorial project, as well as her memories of her mother, Rachael launched a blog, 60postcards.com, in March of 2013 and it is from those posts that the much of the narrative is drawn. Rachael begins with the anniversary journey she took with a dozen friends to scatter the first 60 postcards in Paris, shares the pain of her mother's diagnosis and her last days with her, through to the excitement of the first reply to a postcard found in Paris and the expansion of the project.

60 Postcards is a heartbreaking journey of loss and grief and an uplifting tale of love, family and friendship. Most of all, it is a daughter's loving tribute to her mother, and you are invited to be part of it. ( )