When 30-year-old Pema, one of New York City's newest residents, ran to the corner to see "how they put out fires in big cities," she had no way to know she and the people around her were witnessing the start of a national attack, or that the sight would retrigger the painful trauma of her brother's sudden death when they were teens.

Neither did she know it would begin an emotional and spiritual journey that tested and transcended physical bounds.

Ash and Spirit travels a story of loss as a teenager, and how the search to resolve decades of grief grew into an exploration of love and support here and across the veil. A narrative collage constructed of interviews, messaging chats, journal entries, pictures, and personal stories that take place over thirty years, Ash and Spirit, represents the dislocated nature of memory and trauma recall. Vivid and detailed moments in time stitch together to tell a whole story of many losses into one for the sake of healing individual and collective grief.

Told from the tender center of both personal loss and collective, this book will be valuable for anyone experiencing loss or grief, for the first time or still.

Note: The 2024 print edition is expanded with new updates and additional resources.