WRITING a book is something that many of us dream of doing. But the circumstances in which Anne-Marie Cockburn has come to pen her first text are not ones any would wish on anyone.

Her 15-year-old daughter Martha Fernback died in the summer after taking what police say she thought was ecstasy.

In an attempt to chronicle her feelings and deal with her searing grief, Miss Cockburn took to writing down her thoughts.

Her clear-headed ability to do this while struggling with the most horrifying loss is astonishing.

The enterprise, however, has given her hope for the future, as she explains today.

And in so doing, her experience offers a ray of light to others going through deep trauma.

Not only has the writing of the book given Miss Cockburn a channel for her feelings.

It has also seen her tap into previously un-touched creative energies – and she will now be writing a second book.

The full details of what happened to Martha in July are still to be investigated, and her death is a tragedy which rocked her mother’s life, her family’s life and stunned the city.

But if this book has helped her mother in some way to recover from what happened, then we should all welcome this latest example of the healing power of literature.