Foreword by Jonathan Dimbleby, Chair of Dimbleby Cancer Care. Introduction, Eve Richardson, Chief Executive, Dying Matters Coalition and the National Council for Palliative Care. Leave-taking, Helen Barnes. The Night Shift That Changed Me, Alexandra Obee. Swan, Brenda Read-Brown. Ava's Lovers, Claire Jones. The Milkman Cried, Josephine Howard. Journey's End, Sue Moorhouse. Hypocrisy, Sali Gray. An Ordinary Day, Kylie Joyce. Google Maps Saved My Life, Anneliese Mackintosh. Beneath The Bracken, Janette Ayachi. Coat Hanger, Adam Lound. Chubby Little Cheeks, Sarah Bakewell. Names Have Been Changed, Carole Mansur. Let Winter Come, Nick Jarvis. A Life Ascending, John Hunt. Polly Dolly, Maureen Gallagher. A Matter Of Compassion, Alva de Chiro. Enhancing Dementia Recipe, Janet Willoughby. The Patient That Changed Me, Faye Gishen. Regrets, Hope Uchio. A Dose Of Reality, Caroline Sposto. Closing Scenes, Gráinne Tobin. An Honourable Life, Christopher Owen. Of Glass, of Light, of Silver, Kit de Waal. The Mother Thief, Alison Wassell. The Grief Schism, David Mohan. Spoons, Pete Buckingham. The Waiting Room, Harriet Davies. Papier Maché Doll, Amanda Bowden. Baseball Cards, Leissa Shahrak. About the Authors.
30 short stories and poems about dying and bereavement provide insight into the diverse array of responses to grief, bereavement and facing death
The stories and poems in this collection were originally written
for a competition run by the Dying Matters Coalition. The Dying
Matters Coalition was set up by the National Council for Palliative
Care (NCPC) in 2009 to help transform public attitudes towards
dying, death and bereavement. Its 30,000 members include charities,
care homes, hospices, hospitals, funeral directors, legal and
financial organisations, doctors, nurses and other individuals. The
Dying Matters website has a wide range of free resources to help
people to talk more openly about dying, death, bereavement and
their end of life wishes. The website can be found at
www.dyingmatters.org. All royalties from Final Chapters will be
paid to the National Council for Palliative Care (registered
charity no. 1005671).
Roger Kirkpatrick, social campaigner and publisher, has been
enterprise manager at Shaw Trust, managing director of Berlitz
Publishing and marketing director of Random House. He is currently
an NCPC volunteer, and the Final Chapters project was his
brainchild.
A collection such as this is bound to be very moving and
sympathetic: the subject makes it inevitable. But the pieces in
this collection are much more than cries of grief. For all their
sadness, they are also brave, resolute, clever, and sometimes even
funny. This means the book has a kind of stoic nobility, as well as
a warm humanity. It's a very powerful combination.
*Sir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate*
The poems and prose in this small volume are a revelation. Written
by some who grieve and others who are close to death, they do not
invite a casual skim. They are by turns raw and harrowing, wry and
bleak. But they have in common a compelling honesty that is
touching and illuminating…At some point we will all face that
inevitable terminus, the end of life. I think you will find that by
facing that implacable fact, Final Chapters makes this shared
prospect less daunting and therefore, perhaps, more bearable as
well.
*from the Foreword by Jonathan Dimbleby, Chair of Dimbleby Cancer
Care, UK*
Very interesting book... The stories are well written, sensitive
and provide good insight into the differing worlds of those facing
loss... This book would be a very useful addition to any library
and for those entering the services and professionals who wish to
gain insight into dying death and bereavement.
*Bereavement Care*
Some [contributions] are uplifting and inspirational while others
left me thinking why and wanting to run with my soap box to the
nearest street corner and draw to public attention the true state
of care for our elderly and lack of support for those facing
dementia and terminal illness (unless of course you are fortunate
enough to live in an area that is well provided for!)
*Alex James, founder of Bereavement.co.uk*
I can happily recommend this book to anyone who works in palliative
care, who I think will be interested to read how others see what we
see every day.
*Dr. Roger Woodruff, International Association for Hospice &
Palliative Care, Australia*
Final Chapters...symbolises a somber acknowledgment of the tension
encountered when cancer becomes the subject of our experiences. On
a dual note, the book is also an opportunity for the bringing
together of the suppressed moments of our society. There is an
unveiling of the strange silence that the existence of cancer
leaves in its trail....Whilst the book is an internal monologue of
the contributors, there is a somewhat beautiful quality to the
narratives for creating an entrance into the space of individual
final chapters. We learn through the passages of the final chapters
that even the last breath holds a story that transcends beyond the
moment life surrendered.
*Dr Ayesha Ahmad, BMJ Medical Humanities Journal's online blog*
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