2009 April 09

A Household Guide To Dying-A Review

When I agreed to review the novel, The Household Guide To Dying: A Novel About Life, by Debra Adelaide for Mom Central’s Mother Talk, I was intrigued by the title. Then when I received the book I was reluctant, being a mother myself, I worried it would be a depressing read. Thankfully my initial assessment was completely incorrect. The Household Guide To Dying is masterfully written and takes the reader through Delia’s life through snippets of flashbacks allowing the reader to come to understand just who Delia is. The author does not disappoint the reader with her beautiful prose, one can almost see and smell all that she describes from the gravel roads to the flowers of her beloved Australia.
The Household Guide To Dying is a poignant tale of a woman’s love for her family. When Delia, a mother of two young girls, finds out she has finally lost her battle with cancer she decides to use what time remains to write a book of sorts. By trade, Delia is a household advice columnist. She uses her talents to leave behind advice for her daughters, advice she would have given them through various stages of their lives, had she lived.
I was very pleased at how witty and lovable I found Delia to be. I truly was expecting to be rather depressed, yet that was close to impossible for me considering the whit in which the story is told through Delia. She is practical, fun, sentimental, and above is not depressed (which amazed me). Delia is also a bibliophile, which I related to rather well. I found the descriptions of how Delia would react in comparison to say a mother in an Austen novel to be delightfully fun! The novel is filled with numerous twists and turns guaranteeing the reader will not want to put the book down.
I would not hesitate to recommend this novel to anyone. I know a few family memebers who will be receiving copies of this novel as gifts. Intrigued? The book can be purchased at Amazon.com. Come back and let me know how you liked the novel.
I am extremely grateful to Mom Central’s Mother Talk for allowing me the opportunity to review The Household Guide To Dying: A Novel About Life by Debra Adelaide.

Writer’s Workshop

The Prompts and the answers:

1.) Describe a moment when you realized you and your spouse were SO different.

After 20 years I honestly cannot think of one. We are eerily very similar.

2.) What is your role in the household?

I am the mom and wife. I organise schedules, deal with problems, clean up after everyone, I am the enforcer, policy maker, organiser, scheduler, and nurse.

3.) Write about how you felt when you discovered you were lied to.

I cannot think of a time. I do know that I do not lie and have a very, very low tolerance to those who do.

4.) Describe a hard time you gave a teacher…what would you say to them today?

I never did this. I was a one of those annoyingly perfect student.

5.) What is an unpleasant experience you had eating? Write a poem, paragraph, or something else about the experience.

Friends of ours are from China and they made a huge feast. The appetiser was rather unpleasant. It would not go down. I do not DH and I kept our faces neutral. It was not an unpleasant taste, rather an unpleasant texture and just would not go down! Fortunately the rest of the meal was am absolute delight!