Compassion, Autumn 2020

Autumn 2020 - Compassion | www.tcf.org.uk 16 Book Reviews We are always looking for people who are willing to review books for us. Please contact Mary at the library (address on back page) if you would like to help in this way. This is an unusual book. Because of the Corona lockdown, I had the time and the energy to read all 378 interesting pages, dedicated to Jack, Dave’s son, and Elizabeth, Dave’s sister and ‘for anyone living in grief’. Dave and Debbie’s son, Jack, aged 21, was killed in Palermo in December 2009, leaving a sister Rosie. Elizabeth, Dave’s sister, after many struggles, had killed herself some years before. Dave has clearly spent the last ten years investigating the highways and byways of death. He has produced a fascinating and detailed survey of death in England. He has read very widely, leaving no stone unturned. For instance, on a quick glance a few months ago, I found the following mentioned – Tennyson, the Saxons, Shakespeare, David Bowie, Wilfred Owen, Julian of Norwich, John Keats and William Blake. As for topics, to name a few: atheism/satanism, science, funerals and etiquette, facing death, Heaven and Hell, the death penalty, ghost stories, the paranormal in England, Emmanuel Swedenborg and the Romans. He has bravely mentioned his own feelings and family, and has included many contemporary stories – a considerable achievement. He comes across as a highly intelligent, sensitive man, determined to learn and help others to learn from his suffering. I commend him and his book. My own view, thinking back to when my two sons died, many years apart, is that the book is well worth reading once you are over the first horrible raw stages of grief. In other words, it may not help you in the early stages, but once you are through them (if I can so suggest) it does help to put death and all its ramifications in some sort of perspective. Wherever you are on grief’s journey, this is surely worth pursuing. This is a rich book and worth mining for nuggets of gold. Christopher Compston www.englishbookofthedead.com The English Book of the Dead by Dave Marteau All profits from this book go to TCF