It took me a long time to read this book, not because it isn't good - it's breathtaking - but because I had to put it down to cry several times. What a beautifully-written, funny, heartfelt, searingly honest piece of writing this is. No one who reads it will ever forget Henry. It's also a love letter to the NHS, and should be pressed into the hands of every member of every government forever.

A lovely, heart breaking story of a dad's love for his children. Rob shares his journey with Henry, his third son, and his cancer.

Why did I literally request to get my heart broken like this??

I love Rob Delaney's writing on Catastrophe, and his comments on the death of his son via social media have been insightful, so I didn't hesitate to request the ARC of his memoir about that time. I cannot speak highly enough of this book. It's about as raw and honest as I've ever seen in a memoir, and Delaney doesn't shy away from sharing the thoughts and feelings that grief brings, no matter how dark or unflattering. It's a beautiful short memoir about love, parenthood, marriage, and resilience. There's enough humor (often dark) to allow the reader to be able to handle material that might be too tough to otherwise get through. Even within a single sentence, I often found myself both crying and chuckling.

I was hooked from the beginning, but by the end, I was devastated as his son's condition deteriorated, even though I knew from the onset how the story ended. Throughout the book, Delaney uses the word "beautiful" to describe various physical characteristics of his son, which made my heart warm each time I read it, but by the time I was nearing the end of the book, each use of the word "beautiful" broke my heart a little more.

All the tears, all the heart swells, all the stars.

What a beautiful love story! Not your traditional love story but the love of a father for his son, for his wife, his family and all that helped his son Henry when he had cancer at the age of one. He grieves, he celebrates his short life. I cried a hundred tears and I smiled a hundred smiles. I feel as if I know little Henry and how much he was loved. Even in such a short time on Earth, he touched so many lives. I am sure if you have lost a child, you will understand completely Rob's sadness, his joy, his rage. It is also interesting to read how great the health care system in England is. (Rob was there to film Catastrophe. If you haven't watched it, great show. It's on Prime) Our healthcare system is sorely lacking in this country.

Such a wonderful book. I am recommending it to everyone!

Thank you for the advanced copy!

What an incredible book. I've been a fan of Rob Delaney's since his early twitter days and have read his first memoir. It was heartbreaking when he announced that his son, Henry, passed away from brain cancer at age 3, and Delaney wrote about it honestly, with sorrow, pain, and gratitude.

It's a timeline of his grief, which will never end. Delaney, his wife, sons, and family learned how to care for Henry so he could be at home and live as regular a life as possible. This book also contains Delaney's self-deprecating brand of humor and he does open up a bit more about his private life.

I recommend this book to anyone, really. I think there's something to be gained: how to talk to and support someone grieving the loss of their child, how to (try to) manage yourself to prevent burnout, how to find moments of happiness when everything is just the absolute worst.

Writer and actor Rob Delaney’s son Henry died aged two. We know that from the beginning. Yet this book is not only a book about terrible raw grief that turned Delaney inside it, it’s also a very positive homage to life, fun and love.
It’s a book full of humour: Delaney never skimps on honesty and his anger is palpable and sometimes very funny.
Above all, it’s really beautiful. No child could be more adored than Henry and his other sons, no wife more cherished, no family or friends more appreciated.
This is both an incredibly hard read and - because of the drive and humour of the author - a very easy one.
Thoroughly recommended - both tragic and uplifting.

I sobbed through this book, crying as my son fell asleep on my chest. I felt as though I knew Henry, knew the halls of those fated hospitals, and knew the pain the Delaney family endured.

For a comedian's book, I did laugh. But I laughed because of the humanity this book displayed, and I laughed to take a reprieve from the tears.

What a gorgeous book. A must read.

Many years ago, I met a woman at an autism conference who would become my daughter's therapist. She not only excelled in autism counseling but was also an expert in managing grief. Before his first birthday, her son had died from an insidious brain tumor, and she used that pain and love to help others going through similar unimaginable circumstances. I thought of her often reading A Heart That Works and am so grateful that Rob Delaney is sharing his experience with the world like this woman. We hide from death, pain, and grief like it is something to be ashamed of, even though it is universal. I read an interview with Delaney in the NYT where he stated that he wanted to ruin your day. But to the contrary, although he made me very sad, he uplifted me with his story of love and hope and managed to do it all with a tinge of his trademark humor. Everyone should know someone like my daughter's therapist, and everyone should read this book.

"A heart that hurts is a heart that works." Rob Delaney's book is a raw and honest look at how his family deals with the loss of their baby son/younger brother Henry, who is diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of one. It's a heartbreaking story from one of my favorite funny guys. A fast read that's filled with love, grace, comfort, and understanding. It's a memoir about Henry's death, but more importantly it's a tribute to his life. A beautiful read.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for this ARC.

Rob Delaney will break your heart with his story of caring for, and ultimately grieving for his little boy, Henry. He openly and honestly explores his grief and rage about the unfairness of it all. And though this is about Delaney and his boy, it is also a story about family and how to survive something this awful.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for gifting me a digital ARC of this heartbreaking and glorious memoir by Rob Delaney - 5 stars!

Rob and his wife, pregnant with Henry, their third child, moved from LA to London where he was busy creating and starring in a TV show. But their world crashed around them when Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumor before his first birthday.

I couldn't put this book down, even through my tears. What an amazing family Henry was blessed to have and what wonderful care they gave him, as well as their other two children and their marriage. This is a raw, unfiltered look at unfathomable grief, but also hope. It's a thank you love letter to all those special people who care for sick people, especially sick babies and their families. You will laugh, cheer, and rage along with the author. He holds nothing back and we the readers are better for it. I will definitely think twice about what I say to someone dealing with loss, as well as what to do and not to do. Blessings to this family - a must read!

This was heartbreakingly beautiful. I fervently wish Delaney and all other parents never had to go through what his family and so many others do. This was a beautiful portrait of a grieving father and family, interspersed with some dark humor (as to be expected from the situation) but mostly just a moving story of facing the impossible and learning how to keep putting one foot in front of the other after an unimaginable loss.

Not much else to say. Heartbreaking and real. Read this book.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

An incredible book which gives an insight into the life of those battling with a child with a life-threatening condition. It's a difficult read - as it should be - but there is also a lot of strength and raw honesty shown.

I have had an insight into some of the work done by the teams mentioned in the book, and so for me it was great to hear from the parents side what the impact of the healthcare and holistic elements of support done for them.

A Heart that Works focuses on the cancer diagnosis and death of Rob's toddler son, Henry. It is obviously heartbreakingly sad, but it was also filled with rage and humor. Rob wrote about Henry, his other sons, and his wife with immense tenderness that I really appreciated. I'm grateful for this beautiful book and will think about it for a long time.

It's always hard to rate or critique memoirs, as they are often personal, evocative, and painfully honest. But I will say that 'A Heart That Works' by Rob Delaney has cemented it's place as one of my favorites.

A Heart That Works is vivid, devastating and uniquely insightful. I found myself highlighting sections and wondering at how a family suffering through such tragedy, can still find the light and delicate balance of a life worth living. This memoir will have you cataloging your life, and taking a look at where your priorities are, and discovering what is truly the most important part of this little life we get to live.

A Heart That Works is set to be published November 29, 2022. Thank you to Spiegel & Grau, NetGalley and the author for the Advanced Reader's Copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for an ARC. I loved Rob Delaney’s first book and I love this one as well. They are both heartfelt and thought provoking. In A Heart That Works, he is working through grief in his own way, which also includes some comedy relief during a tough subject. I thought the book was beautiful and instead of crying the entire time, it kind of made me happy that I was let in on a small piece of Henry’s life. A really great read!

I only knew Rob Delaney from Catastrophe and his earlier book. I was so sad to hear of his loss. The story of Henry is told beautifully and with great sadness and a gentle humor. Learning more about Leah and his other children was an unexpected bonus because Rob has held to privacy so fiercely. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know that has experienced profound loss. Thank you for letting me read this!

“In between Henry’s birth and his death was, of course, his life. That was my favorite part.”

I cannot recommend this book enough. I finished it in one sitting because I couldn’t tear myself away once I started reading. I’d say it should come with a warning label, but as the author illustrates beautifully throughout the book, no amount of warning would prepare you for the kind of pain his family has endured.

The grief Delaney writes about is so visceral you feel desperate to take a step back or look away, but the book doesn’t let you, even though there are actually several laugh-out-loud moments interspersed throughout the story. Early on, Delaney notes that this is intentional, that he believes if the reader could feel even part of what his family feels, the point of being alive would be that much clearer. He’s right; I think you’d be hard pressed to put this book down without feeling compelled to live and love more fully than you did before reading. Five enthusiastic, heartbroken stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for the advanced reader copy.

When Rob Delaney announced that he was writing a book about his son's death, I knew it was going to be the perfect combination of heartwarming, anger, pain, and humor. Delaney's story of Henry's life and death is everything that you would expect from him if you are familiar with Catastrophe or his other projects.

There is no toxic positivity in this book. The idea that sometimes things suck and your kid dying is one of those things that really, really sucks, is in every chapter. Delaney makes sure to mention the joys of watching his other children play with Henry and the wonderful caregivers who they interacted with but doesn't shy away from also talking about people who gave less-than-helpful advice or the painful parts of caring for Henry during that time.

I think Delaney provides a lot of starts to much bigger ideas that I hope he will expand on in some other way in the future. His perspectives on handling the death of a son versus a parent or grandparent, marriage during a crisis, the British healthcare system, and career balance are all things that he touches on but does not have the space to go into detail about.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.