Information and well researched. Perhaps macabre but necessary.

I'm not entirely sure why I thought it would be a good idea to finish the last year and therefore start the new one with this book of all things but here we are. For some reason I expected some dark humor and interesting facts and instead I got those very interesting facts but a solid dose of feelings tied to both my own experience as well as the universal experience of being human. Some of these encounters with death workers felt almost intrusive to me which in return made me feel like it was an honor to be a witness to both these people and to Campbell's work. The book made me curious about few things, it raised some questions for me and it put quite a few things into perspective. It's something I shouldn't have gone into as lightly as I did and certainly not during the time of a "milestone anniversary" in my own grief but I don't regret having read this at all. It poked some personal wounds but at the same time - and I do think that was an important point for the author - it made me feel a little less alone. The very last chapter of the book ties a lot of my feelings about it together and shows how even though death is always a matter of solitude to some degree it's also always a matter of community.

This is quite different to what I expected. I thought I would enjoy it but I was expecting something quite dark instead this is full of sadness and humour and an surprising amount of light. 

It’s not for the squeamish or the faint hearted - I have a strong stomach and even I blanched at some of the descriptions. There’s also some strong triggers here so I would steer clear if baby loss is particularly raw.

Campbell’s prose is lovely and you truly do go on a journey with her meeting all these characters who work with the dying or the dead in their day to day work.