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A Painful Post Mortem: A Novel
 
 

A Painful Post Mortem: A Novel [Kindle Edition]

Mel Menzies
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £13.95
Kindle Price: £1.94 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
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Product Description

Product Description

A Painful Post Mortem is a tragic, but tender, story of contemporary issues: love stretched to its limits by divorce, drugs and bereavement. "Where did I go wrong?" is Claire's lament as a mother. Staring at the bottom of a bottle is Mark's escape, as a father.

Meeting, initially, with indifference from the authorities on the death of their daughter, Katya, Claire and Mark are forced into the role of amateur detectives. What led to Katya's demise? How did she die? What is the truth behind the "evidence" found at the house? And who are the two people whom the police have arrested?

These are the questions Claire and Mark must answer. And in doing so, they will have to confront their own troubled past. A painful post mortem of past mistakes must follow: the realisation of the consequences of their actions; the acceptance of character flaws. Honesty, alone, will lead them to an understanding of what it means to forgive each other; to forgive yourself. And only then to the possibility of an unexpected, and enduring, love for one another.

REVIEWS: “A cleverly told story, interweaving the different tales of Katya's life, the deterioration of her parents' marriage, the family's separate journeys through bereavement, all culminating in the Inquest and the answer about Katya's drug dependency. Nothing and no one's reactions are simple and, in the end, there are loose ends - just like life. . . . this is a book I will both go back to read again and pass on to others.”
Liz Manning - Woman Alive Book Club

“The book is beautifully written, the characters well drawn and I felt that I was walking alongside the characters as they went through this emotional period of time. I felt one of the messages of the book was “how to forgive yourself”. Claire feels (as I believe do most parents) that she has failed her daughter. . . We see how Claire comes to terms with her imperfections, and learns that to move on, you have to forgive yourself as well as others.”
Hugh Doxat-Pratt, UK

“The book is riveting I could not put it down. . . It brought many buried things to the surface which I shall have to get to grips with over the next few days and weeks.”
Sue Jenner, Facebook

“Highly recommended.”
Margaret Vaughan – Amazon

If you've read and enjoyed Jodi Picoult's books, you'll love this. In the words of one reader, it's "unputdownable".



Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 465 KB
  • Print Length: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Cumcaritas Books (7 April 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B007SH1JMQ
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #336,666 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Painful Post Mortem 17 Feb 2011
Format:Paperback
A Painful Post Mortem by Mel Menzies

Although described as a novel, this excellent book is based on a real life story and the author takes us into a family life torn apart by the sudden death of one of its young members. As if this wasn't bad enough, the post mortem described the deceased young lady as a `known drug addict'. Her divorced parents are devastated by this because they believed that she had won the battle against her addiction since becoming pregnant with her own child now age fifteen months. The book deals with the various family relationships, the guilt, hurt and all the raw emotions resulting from this tragedy. The family have one purpose and that is to remove the status of `known drug addict' from the death certificate. Anyone who has lost a child or maybe a sibling at a young age will be able to identify with the painful emotions found in this book. Highly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read 27 April 2012
By Aggie C
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
In this multi-layered story of our time Mel Menzies gives an insight into a family's response to tragedy with an honesty that is often raw. The effects of past decisions and behaviours on present situations are skilfully unfolded as the novel progresses. But it is the often small and telling details which bring the characters to vivid and believable life, characters who are well-rounded and realistically portrayed with all their failings and blunders. The style is approachable, and there is wry humour as well as a thoughtful theme of the necessity of forgiving, both others and oneself. Warmly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars a compelling, but painful and heartbreaking read 25 April 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
This book was compulsive reading, but the story of Claire, her daughter Rosie, her new husband Richard and her ex-husband Mark was often painful to read. The story reminded me of how messy and complicated many of our lives can be; and Mel Menzies scrupulously examines the interpersonal relationships of every member of the family closely involved with the tragedy of Katya, who dies an untimely death following drug abuse. As the mother of a 17 year old girl myself, I must admit I found this story heartbreaking to read. I often felt angry with the boorish, insensitive ex-husband, Mark and his behaviour. I felt huge pity and empathy for Katya, and ultimately wish the author had written this story from Katya's point of view. It would then of course be a different book, and would probably come over more with the structure of a novel... it would also perhaps be trespassing on the territory of other writers whose main protagonist is the one who dies.
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