How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper [in Booklist]
At 42, Andrew knows too much about death – personally and professionally. He’s lost his father, mother, sister; his bully brother-in-law is hardly family. He works in London’s Death Administration department, where he deals with what’s left of those who died alone, inspecting their homes, arranging their funerals, occasionally being their only mourner.
Somehow, during his initial job interview, between zoning out and nodding in the wrong places, he convinced his boss-to-be that he had a wife and two children. He’s been embellishing his nonexistent family dramas at the office now for five years. That he lives alone, has only online friends, means his secret didn’t really matter – until his new co-worker Peggy turns out to be more a potential soulmate.
The ever-versatile Simon Vance assumes debut author Richard Roper’s anti-hero with relish, progressively maneuvering him from wallflower to protagonist of his own true story. He’s equally effective voicing Andrew’s missing family, his motley crew of colleagues, the too many lonely strangers. In the growing disconnect of contemporary society, Andrew shows us all the preventative ways of How Not to Die Alone.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, November 15, 2019
Readers: Adult
Published: 2019
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