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A review by jhbandcats
All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
An extraordinarily powerful look at the multiple parts of the death industry, from the person who picks up the body to the one who does the autopsy to the one who dresses the corpse and closes the coffin to the one who digs the grave. Two bits really stuck with me: the man who made sure all original parts were back with the proper body after students and doctors worked on them, and the bereavement midwife.
I think it must have been especially difficult for the author to see the massive deaths from COVID just when she’d finished writing all but the afterword.
This book and many of its details have stayed with me - I keep thinking of it. To me that’s the sign of a great book, one that’s really thought provoking.
I think it must have been especially difficult for the author to see the massive deaths from COVID just when she’d finished writing all but the afterword.
This book and many of its details have stayed with me - I keep thinking of it. To me that’s the sign of a great book, one that’s really thought provoking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy