The Message Catcher

Davie Devlin thinks she has already learned all she needs to know about tragedy and loss, given that her parents died in a plane crash when Davie was in her twenties.

Fifteen years later, a vacation with her husband takes an unimaginable turn when Michael dies saving Davie's life. Suddenly widowed at forty-three, Davie runs head-on into the unrealistic views of grief in American culture.

The Message Catcher follows Davie's widowhood as her job implodes, her best friend becomes seriously ill, people she trusted betray her, and her comfortable identity as half of a married couple abruptly ends.

Then a friend opens up a new world for Davie-long-distance backpacking on the Appalachian Trail-and Davie begins the painful process of rebuilding her life and learning what she will and will not accept from the people around her.

This is a story of love, loss, and recovery, interwoven with Davie's recollections of her complex, passionate husband. It's also a story of learning that the greatest joy comes in the most fleeting moments, and the trick is to recognize them when they happen.

Drawing on the author's recovery from the death of her husband, The Message Catcher explores experiences common to sudden loss that are taboo in American culture but will resonate with anyone who has survived a traumatic event.

Darryl McGrath is an Albany author, journalist, and backpacker whose husband, journalist Jim McGrath, died in 2013. She is the author of Flight Paths: A Field Journal of Hope, Heartbreak, and Miracles with New York's Bird People, and the co-editor, with Howard Healy, of I'll Be Home: The Writings of Jim McGrath.