The Household Guide to Dying
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Review
'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
‘With The Household Guide to Dying, Debra Adelaide serves up a tantalizing literary souffle–a beautiful blending of lightness and substance that centers around Delia, as quirky, funny, feisty and brave a character as any in contemporary fiction. I think you'll love this life-affirming novel. I did.’ Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much Is True
Product 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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Delia Bennet has a wonderful life. She is in her late thirties, happily married with two young children. She has a lovely home. She has moved from magazine journalism to writing a series of highly successful modern household guides.
But there is a major problem - Delia is terminally ill.
And so the story follows Delia through her day to day life as she sets out to put together one final guide - "The Household Guide to Dying".
She composes her advice to the dying and their loved ones Delia realizes that there are things she has left undone. Things she has to put right. How? Well one day she climbs into her car, and sets off on a trip.
It would be unfair to say any more than that. The plot takes turns which are often unexpected but never unbelievable.
Delia's story moves around in time in a style that falls somewhere between reportage and stream of consciousness. It's a little odd, but it works, and the narrative voice is idiosyncratic and wonderful.
In the early stages I had to pay close attention to keep track of exactly what was happening when, and that made it difficult for me to be fully engaged.
But gradually I was drawn in and eventually I was completely involves in Delia's story. I came to know her and to care very much care about her.
This is a very emotional book. There are some heart-breaking events, and of course there can't be a happy ending, but it is never sentimental.
This isn't a book for everyone. But if the subject matter doesn't make you say "no" I would definitely recommend it.
But there is a major problem - Delia is terminally ill.
And so the story follows Delia through her day to day life as she sets out to put together one final guide - "The Household Guide to Dying".
She composes her advice to the dying and their loved ones Delia realizes that there are things she has left undone. Things she has to put right. How? Well one day she climbs into her car, and sets off on a trip.
It would be unfair to say any more than that. The plot takes turns which are often unexpected but never unbelievable.
Delia's story moves around in time in a style that falls somewhere between reportage and stream of consciousness. It's a little odd, but it works, and the narrative voice is idiosyncratic and wonderful.
In the early stages I had to pay close attention to keep track of exactly what was happening when, and that made it difficult for me to be fully engaged.
But gradually I was drawn in and eventually I was completely involves in Delia's story. I came to know her and to care very much care about her.
This is a very emotional book. There are some heart-breaking events, and of course there can't be a happy ending, but it is never sentimental.
This isn't a book for everyone. But if the subject matter doesn't make you say "no" I would definitely recommend it.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Delia Bennet is the author of a series of successful modern household guides. She's also dying from cancer. As she has her own experience to draw on, she sets out to write a final guide.. `The Household Guide to Dying'.
Whilst researching and writing this book, Delia comes to realise that there are issues in her past that she has to face, and deal with. One day she climbs into her car, and takes a journey that she hopes will help her do just that.
The story moves around in time, jumping between events. Early in the book, it is easy to lose track as to where you are in the story, so it's certainly one to pay attention to, rather than dipping in and out.
For me, however, there came a point where I started to feel myself fully immersed in the way of writing, the evolving storylines, and the characters, and I had difficulty putting it down.
Delia writes about dying in a candid and straightforward way - she develops her own ways to deal with her feelings, and what is to come.. and in doing so, she also starts to deal with the past. I love that feeling when I know a book has me hooked, and this was it!
This is a very emotional book, touching on some heart-breaking events, but it avoids being overly sentimental. This may not be the way that you, as a reader, personally expects to face your own death, but it's completely believable that it's Delia's way.
There are many aspects of the story that I don't wish to spoil, as I believe that are best met in the way they unfold. It's possibly not a book that everyone is going to get along with, but if you do, I suspect that you will gain a lot from it. My main advice is to not give up on it if you struggle at the beginning, as this is a book I would not have wanted to have missed.
Whilst researching and writing this book, Delia comes to realise that there are issues in her past that she has to face, and deal with. One day she climbs into her car, and takes a journey that she hopes will help her do just that.
The story moves around in time, jumping between events. Early in the book, it is easy to lose track as to where you are in the story, so it's certainly one to pay attention to, rather than dipping in and out.
For me, however, there came a point where I started to feel myself fully immersed in the way of writing, the evolving storylines, and the characters, and I had difficulty putting it down.
Delia writes about dying in a candid and straightforward way - she develops her own ways to deal with her feelings, and what is to come.. and in doing so, she also starts to deal with the past. I love that feeling when I know a book has me hooked, and this was it!
This is a very emotional book, touching on some heart-breaking events, but it avoids being overly sentimental. This may not be the way that you, as a reader, personally expects to face your own death, but it's completely believable that it's Delia's way.
There are many aspects of the story that I don't wish to spoil, as I believe that are best met in the way they unfold. It's possibly not a book that everyone is going to get along with, but if you do, I suspect that you will gain a lot from it. My main advice is to not give up on it if you struggle at the beginning, as this is a book I would not have wanted to have missed.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An excellent read that I really enjoyed - and although the subject matter may sound depressing and more like a misery memoir it is far from that. This is brilliantly original and charts Delia's attempts to provide for her family after her death. She writes list, teaches her young daughters to make a real cup of tea and boil eggs and plans their weddings.
Delia writes an advice column for a living and has also written a series of modern household guides - she wants to write a 'household guide to dying', but she also wants to sort out unfinished business from her past.
The story follows Delia on her journey and also through writing her guide. At times it brings a lump to the throat and at others it raises a giggle.
Delia writes an advice column for a living and has also written a series of modern household guides - she wants to write a 'household guide to dying', but she also wants to sort out unfinished business from her past.
The story follows Delia on her journey and also through writing her guide. At times it brings a lump to the throat and at others it raises a giggle.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dying
I was amazed at the humour in this book. It was written with so much compassion and understanding. I had already read the copy from the local library and was so impressed that I... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ameurta
A sad, but uplifting story
Delia Bennett is dying. She's a 40 year old mother of two who is in the final stages of metastatic breast cancer and she has discontinued chemo to enjoy the time she has left with... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jill Meyer
A good story, but slow
A moving and yet darkly humourous story, 'The Household Guide to Dying' is just that - a woman famous for writing domestic guides finds herself dying of cancer, so decides to make... Read more
Published 23 months ago by BookWorm
The Household Guide to Dying
This is a story about Delia a woman who is dying. She has had a double mastectomy, all the trearment she can handle and now is the time that she must make herself ready for her... Read more
Published on 3 April 2010 by P. A. Cunningham
Perfect cup of tea; perfectly good read
I enjoyed this book immensely. The plot is summarised above so I won't repeat it. What I will say is that it made me laugh out loud in places, I found it touching and insightful,... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2009 by D1HAJ
Interesting, Enjoyable, Sad
This book is about dying from the inside. It has elements that you might usually expect in crime fiction, such as a vivid, graphic autopsy scene and the search for someone missing. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2009 by J. M. Young
Gentle book, moving and unusual
This is an unusual novel, in that it deals with someone who is dying. First person narration allows us into the head of Delia Bennet, who has cancer and has little time to live,... Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by L. H. Healy
loved it!
I was a little confused at first as I thought I had missed bits but once I relaxed and realised that Delia would explain all it was wonderful. Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2009 by Shelfie
Engaging but strange!
An unusual approach to the story being told, and some slightly odd patches in the book, which don't necessarily feel as if they belong. Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by J. Baxter
Uplifting and Enlightening
The Household guide to Dying follows the story of Delia who is terminaly ill and has onlymonths to live. Read more
Published on 18 May 2009 by Matilda Wormwood
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