Posted by Laurie | May 10th, 2009

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m doing occasional book reviews for Penguin Canada – no compensation received other than the book itself (no affiliate sales or anything either), honest opinions only. I’m going to tell a little about each book and provide a rating (my opinion only obviously) out of 5 stars.

The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide

I received a couple of books last week from Penguin Canada, The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum and The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide.  I think I may have been intended to read The Opposite of Love first, but it is a nice small paperback so I’m saving it for the plane on the way to/from Los Angeles at the end of this month. Yes, I’m crazy enough to think that I’ll find time to read on a plane with three kids! Hey, there are two other adults with me – it could happen! If not, I’m sure I’ll get a chance to read at some point during the vacation – what’s a vacation without a book?!!

So anyway, The Household Guide to Dying came in hardcover format which allowed me to justify reading it first. Really it just seemed like an interesting premise and I couldn’t resist getting started on it. And as usual I got so involved in the story I could barely put it down and finished it in just a few days. Considering how little sleep I got this week and that I had a fair bit of work to do, I’m impressed I got through it so quickly, shows you that reading is a priority to me I guess.

This book is a beautifully written and thought-provoking one. Delia is a mother of three who has terminal cancer, a freelance writer who chooses in her final months to write the last in a series of Household Guides, this one to be the Household Guide to Dying. Delia has a love of books, a love of words and a commitment to research for her books that make her the perfect person to write a guide to dying. Writing the guide gives Delia the opportunity to truly consider her options and the things she wants to do before time runs out. She makes lists for the future and revisits the past.

I’m a mom of three and I won’t deny that this book made me cry a few times and made me think (too hard almost) about how I would handle her particular tragedy. It’s not a place I want ever to be, and it also reminded me of a former co-worker whose wife battled cancer for years before losing her battle. They had three sons similar in age to mine. Of course we wouldn’t choose to leave our children, especially when they are so young and we never feel (well, I certainly don’t anyway) that anyone can parent them quite like we can. I found it quite poignant to read the author’s note at the end about her own son battling leukemia while she wrote this novel. How sadly ironic.

Oh and can I just say that if I didn’t want to visit Australia before – I really do now!! Debra Adelaide is from Sydney and her descriptions of flowers, gardens etc. made me feel I could see and smell them right here in my living room. Casuarina anyone?!

A book like The Household Guide to Dying is a wonderful read for anyone, probably will appeal more to women than men, but definitely a book that will make you think. It may make you uncomfortable, but it is, at the end, a novel of hope rather than despair, despite what one might expect in a book about a terminally ill woman. 4.5 stars without question.

Tags: book, book review, debra adelaide, dying, household guide to dying, kids, mom, novel, penguin canada, planning