Mrs Sutherland’s mum, Susan Horvath, lived in Cootamundra for 11 years until 2013, when she died from cancer.

The book, Dear Mum in Heaven, is her first and explores her grief at losing her mum.

“The book is about grief, it’s about loss, it takes people on a journey about losing someone to cancer,” Mrs Sutherland

“A lot of people have identified with the story, people have told me that I’ve written their story.

“As painful as my grief has been, I’ve embraced it.

“The book tells that story.”

Mrs Sutherland said grief was a normal part of life and something which should honoured.

“I’m coming back because she lived and died (in Cootamundra), it’s my way of bringing her story back there,” Mrs Sutherland said.

Susan Horvath and her husband came to Cootamundra in 2002 after friends told them it was beautiful.

Buying a home which was a renovator’s dream, they recreated the property from carpet, to kitchen and gardens.

Mrs Sutherland hopes to share a deeper understand of grief with people and hopes to touch people’s hearts.

“It means looking at grief for what it is,” she said.

Mrs Sutherland’s visit is part of a series of talks organised by the Cootamundra Library covering mental health, resilience and recovery. 

Mrs Sutherland’s talk begins from 10.30am on Saturday, June 30.