The Household Guide to Dying is the story of a young 40-year-old mother dying and setting her house in order. It is a slow burn kind of novel with a devastating and beautiful end. It is imaginative and humourous in its use of character, and yet the plot could not be more steeped in realistic situation. There is little in life more predictable than death. Everyone eventually finds the same end. Delia is a very popular advice columnist dishing out cheeky and somewhat cynical replies to readers who seem to enjoy the abuse. She is a mother of two daughters and a son. It is revealed through the book, that her son was tragically killed when hit by a car. She is married to the wonderful Archie, a great standup kind of guy who really understands her, and she also makes a living writing The Household Guide to … series of books. We are told that she is dying of cancer and Delia approaches the factual approach of her own death with pragmatics and lists. She thinks in terms of what she must set about completing for her children and her husband before she can submit. Her last months have been spent trying to brief her husband on the daily operations of the household, a place she has run with a loving precision. Delia makes clear that her marriage, while loving can often also be weighed down by routine. Buried deep in the details of managing all the needs and wants of the various personalities in her family, it has become sometimes hard for Delia to see the bigger picture, the passion that has bound them all together. “If this marriage were to have unravelled it would have been over something as trivial and tangible as a misplaced sock or a forgotten school lunchbox.” Her failing health and imminent death brings a new perspective. Urgency. Fresh eyes. A fierce need to leave something unique and lasting behind. For a brief period at the start of the novel Delia leaves her family to venture back to a city known as Amethyst, a small sleepy town filled with carny types and circus performers. It is an odd turn of plot and leaves the reader pondering why the road trip until, bit by bit, slowly it is revealed that she has some loose ends from her life there with Sonny. The details of Sonny’s death are let loose in small increments as Delia gets closer to the end of her own life, more poignant because they are so simply revealed. I have had quite a run of excellent reads here at thriftymommasbrainfood recently. Lucky for me. I wasn’t expecting a book entitled The Household Guide To Dying to keep this streak alive and yet it has more than done that. Debra Adelaide has created a truly humourous, bittersweet and lovely tale. It is a surprisingly fantastic read. It is compelling and well written and charming with eccentric moments. Not a summer beach read, but the book you read before your vacation or right after you get back. The Guide is ideally suited for book club discussions. It is a story that will leave you feeling happy to be alive, and if a book can be said to make you take stock of your life and wish to hold those you love a bit closer to cherish them, then this is that kind of book. Adelaide has worked as an editor, book reviewer and researcher and is now a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. She has three children. This novel was nminated for the Orange Prize for fiction.

The Household Guide To Dying, by Debra Adelaide, Penguin Group Canada, $18.00 paperback edition, 2010.
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