A careful look will notice: the author’s surname does not look like Russian, but there is no translator, therefore, everything was originally written in Russian. And there is.
Dutch by birth, Frederika de Graaff moved to Russia and has been working in the First Moscow Hospice for 10 years with seriously ill patients and their relatives. Illness and suffering are a test not only for the one whom they befell, but also for his loved ones. Sometimes we make mistakes in good faith, such as when we reassure a dying person that everything is fine, thus refusing to share his fear and sadness. Caring for the sick requires not only sympathy, but also specific knowledge. The author shares them with us. In addition, she talks about her charges, how they deal with difficult situations in different ways, and explains how to overcome our own fear of death and discover the meaning of what is happening.
Nicaea, 192 pp., 2015.