Mrs Death Misses Death

DNF'd at 20%. It's evident that this is a novel written by a poet, and the poet resents prose so much she can't resist the urge to make every sentence sound poetic. The result is overburdened, ponderous, self-grandiose. The big meditations on death don't offer any original insight and ultimately come off as trite. This is a disappointing waste of a somewhat interesting premise.

Review copy provided by publisher Mrs Death Misses Death is blend of poetry and prose, all on the subject of death, the regret, injustice, forgiveness, acceptance, relief, the whole complicated mess of feeling attached with the end of life. It takes the form of Death’s memoir of sorts, with Wolf writing it on her behalf, being told tales of deaths from the past.

Wolf lost his mother in a high-rise fire, one that has echos of the Grenfell tragedy even if left unnamed. From his loss, Death takes him to others who have been forgotten, and those who would be better off forgotten, to heroes mourned by many.

It’s a book without much in the way of plot. There is a little of Wolf dealing with his mental health, but it’s not a conventional story, much more of an exploration. Salena is playful with words, her background as a poet shining through. Some chapters are poems, some are tales of those Mrs Death has visited, some are real people. One or two felt more like essays than fiction, but fitting in their inclusion.

It’s a sombre start to my reading year, and for some a book dwelling on death might not be what they need right now. But it may also help you reflect on the loss of the past few years. There are six pages left blank at the end of the book for you to write down the deaths that were not included, your own personal tragedies or heroes you lost.