Pulling the Heartstrings: Mum's List Spotlight & Giveaway

Pulling the Heartstrings is a new feature here at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf where I will periodically spotlight books that I want to share because they've touched my heart.

When I first heard about this book and then watched the video below it brought me to tears.  I'm definitely adding this one to my TBR and I am so happy to be able to spotlight it here and also offer one of my lucky readers a free copy of Mum's List courtesy of Dutton Books at the end of this post. 

Watch the video:


In March of this year, St. John Greene and his two sons appeared on a top British morning show to discuss his UK memoir, MUM’S LIST. The interview, which brought the host to tears —followed by hugs and laughter by all on set—started a worldwide phenomenon for the book.  MUM’S LIST rocketed to the top of the UK bestseller lists, garnered a film deal, lit up twitter and the blogosphere, and sold rights in nine countries, with more offers continuing to pour in.

The Book:

MUM’S LIST: A Mother’s Life Lessons to the Husband and Sons She Left Behind 

by St. John Greene

Dutton Books

June 5, 2012 

ISBN 978-0-525-95385-2

Find the Book: 

Goodreads | Amazon | AmazonUK | 

BN | The Book Depository

Other articles: ABC News | Huffington Post

Now available for the first time in the U.S., MUM’S LIST: A Mother’s Life Lessons to the Husband and Sons She Left Behind  is a life-affirming memoir about a father raising his two young boys after he loses his wife, and how the list of instructions she left behind inspired all of them to fulfill their dreams. 

St. John, known as Singe, never planned to write a book like this.  An adventure-loving outdoor sports trainer, he met his future wife, Kate, when they were both teenagers, and they’d been together for more than twenty blissful years.  Their happy world crumbled when their first son Reef, just eighteen months old, was given a terrifying cancer diagnosis—one with only a 6% chance of survival.  The doctors gave him mere days to live, but miraculously, Reef pulled through (and remains healthy to this day).  For his fourth birthday, the Greenes hired out an entire local theater to celebrate.  But then, just as things were getting back to normal, Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She fought the cancer for almost two years. But in December 2010, Kate realized she wasn’t going to make it.  She decided to create a list of 100 things she wanted her family to know and to do after she was gone. Kate and Singe talked and cried together as she wrote her thoughts and wishes down, trying to help the man she loved create the best life for their boys after she was gone.   

Far from the elegy you might expect, the list is raw and funny and full of life – from the mundane: Please teach them to be on time, or the playful: Watch for four-leaf clovers, to the profound: Always say what you truly mean. Kate left Singe instructions about where to turn for parenting advice and the request that he should find another woman to settle down with so the boys might have a female influence in their lives.  Kate's incredible courage, her passion for her children, and the huge love between her and Singe shine throughout this amazing book. 

Kate succumbed to breast cancer in January 2010 at the age of 37, leaving the legacy of the list behind her.  The instructions were simple, but the effect they had on Singe, Reef, and their younger son Finn was incredibly profound.  It allowed the Greenes to honor and remember Kate, while at the same time moving forward with their lives in a positive and healthy way.  MUM’S LIST recounts the adventures of Kate’s three men as they follow some of her instructions:

• Celebrate Birthdays Big Time

Þ    For Reef’s 6^th birthday, Singe organizes a pirate party for his entire class aboard a replica Tudor ship in Bristol Harbor, complete with costumes, pirate games, and skull-and-crossbones cake.

• Grow a sunflower now and again

Þ    Thanks to the wild success of MUM’S LIST, the Greenes have received hundreds of sunflower seeds in the mail to plant in their garden.

• Would like dining room table so you can have family meals once a week, at least

Þ    Singe writes in the book: “July 2011: our dining table and chairs arrives today—a solid oak six-seater exactly like the one Kate had pointed out in a magazine.  Tonight we’ll eat around the table.”

• Go to Egypt and snorkel in the Red Sea

Þ    Singe and a big party of his extended family take the boys to Egypt for a thrilling vacation in December 2011.

• Buy a boat with seats so Reef and Finn can sit and watch the sea in it

Þ    Singe buys a beautiful boat, and sailing in the harbor gives him and the boys one of their first moments of joy after Kate’s death.

The Author:

ST. JOHN GREENE grew up in western England where he met his teenage sweetheart, Kate. A quali­fied paramedic and lifeguard, St. John, known to his friends as Singe, founded Training Saints, which specializes in teaching extreme sports to young people. Since Kate’s death Singe has devoted his life to raising their two young sons, Reef and Finn. He continues to run Training Saints and is chair of governors at the boys’ school. He spends all of his free time teaching them the things he loved to do with Kate: sailing, scuba diving, jet skiing, and power boating near their home in Somerset. Mum’s List is his ­first book.

The Giveaway:

No following required...simply leave me a comment before midnight (EDT) on June 22nd on this post letting me know your thoughts and why you want to read the book.  Make sure to leave an email address so I can contact the winner.