Hayley Campbell is working out a philosophy of death by getting close to it; holding it; asking interesting questions of people who spend their lives dealing with it. This is an essential, compassionate, honest examination of how we deal with death, and how it changes the living.

Audrey Niffenegger

Campbell weaves judicious reflections on the philosophy and history of the death industry into the reportage... Never macabre... poignant... Transformative

Financial Times

This is an absorbing and important book, seeking out stories so many shy away from and telling them with such respect, humanity, heart and, yes, wit. Without exaggeration, an awe-inspiring achievement

Nigella Lawson

The book's tour de force is the chapter on the technicians who prepare bodies for autopsy at St Thomas's Hospital in London. It is a superlative piece of writing, one of the best essays I have read in a long time: provocative, loving and profound

Helen Rumbelow, The Times

Campbell is a gorgeous writer, capturing the exquisite pathos and gallows humor found in folks who spend their lives working with the dead

Caitlin Doughty, New York Times bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

An extraordinary journey, through scenes and characters so chilling they have their own crystalline beauty. The writing is finely felt and full of life, Campbell always finding a way to look through horror, to see humanity. So many of the images in it are heart-stopping - and by the end I was surprised to find myself sobbing. It's superb

Rhik Samadder, author of Sunday Times bestseller, I Never Said I Loved You