The Household Guide to Dying
Published on 16. June 2008
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-00-727470-3 (ISBN)
Description
A brilliantly moving and darkly comic novel, which charts the attempts of dying heroine Delia - a modern day Mrs Beeton - to prepare her family for the future and lay to rest a ghost from her past.
Inspired by her heroine, Isabella Beeton, Delia has made a living writing a series of hugely successful modern household guides, as well as an acerbic domestic advice column. As the book opens, she is not yet forty, but has only a short time to live.
She is preoccupied with how to prepare herself and her family for death, from writing exhaustive lists to teaching her young daughters how to make a perfect cup of tea. What she needs, more than anything, is a manual - exactly the kind she is the expert at writing. Realising this could be her greatest achievement (for who could be better equipped to write The Household Guide to Dying?) she sets to work. But, in the writing, Delia is forced to confront the ghosts of her past, and the events of fourteen years previously. There is a journey she needs to make, back to the landscape of her past, and one last vital thing she needs to do.
Hugely original, life affirming and humorous, The Household Guide to Dying illuminates love, loss, family and the place we call home.
Inspired by her heroine, Isabella Beeton, Delia has made a living writing a series of hugely successful modern household guides, as well as an acerbic domestic advice column. As the book opens, she is not yet forty, but has only a short time to live.
She is preoccupied with how to prepare herself and her family for death, from writing exhaustive lists to teaching her young daughters how to make a perfect cup of tea. What she needs, more than anything, is a manual - exactly the kind she is the expert at writing. Realising this could be her greatest achievement (for who could be better equipped to write The Household Guide to Dying?) she sets to work. But, in the writing, Delia is forced to confront the ghosts of her past, and the events of fourteen years previously. There is a journey she needs to make, back to the landscape of her past, and one last vital thing she needs to do.
Hugely original, life affirming and humorous, The Household Guide to Dying illuminates love, loss, family and the place we call home.
Reviews / Votes
'Adelaide's moving novel captures both the hope and sadness of Delia's plight.' Daily Mail'Darkly comic novel with a tone that is Desperate Housewives meets Six Feet Under...this is caustic and hilarious, as well as heart-warming. A clever read that stays with you for a long time.' Red
'A novel about loving and grieving...filled with humour, warmth and sadness - just like life.' Good Reading
'Debra Adelaide has created one of the most irrepressible and beguiling heroines...I finished the book in tears. Adelaide captures [the leaving behind] with an intensity that constantly slides into comedy, the kind in which laughter segues into crying...sublime on the battles with crumbs, washing up, and the laundry basket. In a class of its own.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Deliciously maverick...dazzlingly original. This vibrant, original novel keeps a steady focus on dying and the ways in which it shapes and hones the living.' The Age
'I found this novel entrancing. The Household guide to Dying is a joyous, irreverent romp of a book that resonates deep inside long after you finish. Delia's magical, crystalline voice made me fervently wish that she was real and that I knew her.' PATRICIA WOOD, Lottery
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
527 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-727470-3 (9780007274703)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Debra Adelaide
The Household Guide to Dying
E-Book
04/2010
1st Edition
HarperCollins
€8.49
Available for download
Person
Debra Adelaide is the author of two novels which were published in Australia and four themed collections of fiction and memoirs. She has worked as a researcher, editor and book reviewer, and has a PhD from the University of Sydney. She is now a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney. She has three children and several chickens.