Evie offers a fascinating and often amusing insight into an aspect of death that is universally feared. Evie's memoir of a life spent organising what were until recently still known as 'pauper's funerals' is by turns hilarious and heartfelt. Some of Evie King's cases will make you cry, others will make you angry, and some will make you smile - or even *laugh*. She doesn't always succeed, but it's heartening to see the lengths to which she goes and the effort she puts in. King talks about her early days in the job, and with each case, we see her expertise and knowledge developing and growing.

Evie King works for her local council and part of her job is to carry out funerals under Section 46. To ensure no one is alone when they're buried or cremated and to bring the dead to life so that we know them and their story. That said, her kindness, generosity and tenacity is evident throughout in the efforts she goes to to ensure those in need of a section 46 funeral get something that is a true reflection of the person they were. A downside to longevity that people sometimes don’t consider, and something that is striven for blindly in our life-at-all-costs culture. Evie King is a council worker charged with sorting out Section 46 funerals - funerals for those with no one or no one able or willing to do so on their behalf.Above all, there's nothing morbid or depressing about this book - unless you count the behaviour and attitudes of some of the deceaseds' family members. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

This really jumped out at me, as I often feel that people focus on lifespan and not the value and quality of life we have.Please consider making a donation to help me continue this site, and to organise future Dead Good Conversations. It lifts the lid on the lives, and more importantly the deaths, of our country's forgotten people, dignifying them, and shaming our nation. I've learned a lot from this memoir (like, who knew you could bequeath your loyalty card points) and it's made me think a little more about my own inevitable demise.

I've come across more than my fair share of faceless bureaucrats who have gone about their job with complete disdain for the people they are meant to help lately. The author instils the stories of those who have received a Section 46 Council funeral with a level of humour which makes what at times can be quite an emotional read also a very funny one.

I got a response from the person on the death cert and got a response with the exact location of the scattering, along with a full eulogy! I picked this up on a whim after hearing the author on a podcast talking about the book and her job. One of her cases is that of a man whose family, are in receipt of benefits, as was he, and who are devastated by the thought that their loved one will receive only a cheap, perfunctory send-off because even collectively they couldn't afford anything more. Heartbreakingly, she states that “Bereaved families come to councils as their last resort, often ashamed, their grief compounded by feelings of having failed their loved one”.