Death of an Ordinary Man

An unflinching and profoundly moving account of caring until death, from Booker-Prize-longlisted Sarah Perry.

Please read this book. It may very well change how you live – Rachel Clarke

I was spellbound – Kathryn Mannix

Death of an Ordinary Man is an unforgettable account of this universal aspect of life. It is not a book about grief; it is a book about dying, and it is a book about family, care, and love.

Sarah Perry's father-in-law David died in the autumn of 2022, only nine days after a cancer diagnosis. Until then, he'd been a healthy and happy man—he loved stamp collecting, fish and chips, comic novels, his local church, and the Antiques Roadshow. He was, in some ways, a very ordinary man, but as he began to die, it became clear how extraordinary he was.

Sarah and her husband Robert nursed David themselves at home, eventually with the help of carers and visiting nurses. They bathed, cleaned, and dressed him, comforted him in pain, sat with him through waking and sleeping, talked to him, sang to him, and prayed with him. Day by day and hour by hour, they witnessed what happens to the body and spirit as death approaches and finally arrives.

By the end I was left shaken, deeply moved – Christos Tsiolkas

This book will be a lifeline for so many people – Sean Hewitt

To read this book is a privilege, a gift on the craft of dying – Amy Key