‘The Breath of Sadness: On Love, Grief and Cricket’ For those of a certain age, the first half of the title of Ian Ridley’s moving, poignant and ultimately uplifting book will be familiar. It is taken from the 1989 song ‘Sit Down’ by the band James: “Those who feel the breath of sadness, sit down next to me.” The quotation formed part of a tweet by Ridley on the morning of 6 February 2019 to announce the death from cancer of his wife, the pioneering sports reporter Vikki Orvice, aged 56. Shortlisted for the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, ‘The Breath of Sadness’ recounts with searing candour how Ridley, also a sports journalist, dealt with Orvice’s illness and how, after her death, he coped with the mass of raging and, at times, frighteningly dark emotions. Counselling and conversation play their part but it 21 is through watching cricket that Ridley starts to put his wife’s death into some kind of perspective. Not just any cricket – Ridley eschews the bish-bash of T20 cricket and the international glamour of Test matches in favour of the county game, where unsung heroes perform in front of one man and his dog, as the wind howls across the greensward and crosswords are slowly filled in. Writes Ridley: “Cricket didn’t talk back to me and it didn’t offer advice. Like a best friend, it was just there for me.”
Ridley is the author of 12 sports books, including the No.1 best-selling ‘Addicted’ with the former Arsenal and England captain, Tony Adams, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. Over a 40-year career, he has written for numerous publications, including the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent on Sunday and the Mail on Sunday, for whom he was chief football writer, and was named Sports Journalist of the Year in the 2007 British Press Awards. He has also written TV scripts, for Sky One’s Dream Team, and a novel, ‘The Outer Circle’.
Reviews:
“Ian Ridley’s beautifully crafted memoir shows there is no right or wrong way to grieve, and yet grieve we must. A moving insight.” JULIA SAMUEL, author of Sunday Times bestsellers Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass
“A fine meditation on life, love, death and grief forged during a gentle summer of county cricket.” MICHAEL ATHERTON, former England cricket captain
“A heart-rending read. What Ridley has written in his wonderful book is a love letter to the game.” JIM WHITE, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
Ian will be appearing at LitFest on Sunday 3 October at 10am at Marlborough Town Hall in a live event; this talk will also be available to watch online.