Book review ~ ‘Admin to Ashes’

Last week, I had a ceremony at Fenland Crematorium out in March . I knew I was going to get there extra early and took my latest book with me, so I could sit in the rose garden and enjoy a couple more chapters before heading inside to get ready. Well, I got distracted and ended up leaving my book on the bench by mistake where the lovely gardeners found it and took it into the office for safekeeping. When I went to retrieve it after the service, it had prompted quite the conversation among the staff there, who’d already been online to order themselves copies!

I honestly think this is the book many people working in the funeral business have been waiting to read, and there is so much in there that we can identify with. If you’re anything like me, you’ll read it with a wry smile of recognition on your face throughout.

Each chapter tells the story of a different case in the working life of a council officer who oversees Section 46 funerals, where the local authority has taken on responsibility for organising the funeral - for a whole range of reasons. Beautifully written in such a down to earth way, ‘Ashes to Admin’ truly shines a light on death, dying and the complex human dynamics involved in saying goodbye.

The writer is very open and honest about what they’ve learned from each case (that especially resonated with me, because it’s exactly how I feel about each funeral I lead), about what they maybe found difficult or hard to understand. There’s no soft soaping, no pretending things are something they aren’t - just plenty of the honest talk about death that we really need to open our ears to.

Far from being morbid, it’s a collection of stories about life and about humanity, as much as it is about death, and the great ‘cosmic tombola’ that brings us here - into this time, and this place, with these people. A brilliant read.