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The Funny Thing About Death...

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The Funny Thing About Death...

By: Jo Caulfield
Narrated by: Jo Caulfield
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Six years ago, Jo Caulfield was about to go on stage when she found out that her big sister Annie had cancer. Not the best way to start a nationwide comedy tour. But the tour turns out to be a welcome distraction for both sisters. As Jo reports back from various hotels and service stations, they revisit their childhood and adolescence while navigating Annie’s illness, learning through trial and error how to behave when someone you love gets sick.

The Funny Thing About Death is a hilarious memoir of two unconventional girls growing up in the 1970s. They didn’t fit in at the Air Force bases they were raised on or the strict convent boarding school they were sent to. The Air Force was obsessed with communists and the nuns were obsessed with the Virgin Mary, neither of which were of interest to Jo or Annie.

Annie was witty, spiky and greedy for life, rushing to be ‘interesting’ and experience adventures. She travelled the world and became a screenwriter and broadcaster.

Jo was equally rebellious but didn’t have a plan. She just wanted to be interesting like her big sister and thought it might involve eyeliner, smoking and being in a band.

Like her stand-up, Jo Caulfield’s caustic wit and razor-sharp observations make her account of life with her sister, even in the worst of times, as entertaining as it is touching and relatable.©2023 Jo Caulfield (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Grief & Loss Personal Development Relationships Women Funny Witty Comedy
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Comedic, yet insightful. Got to know someone I never met, but someone I really enjoyed getting to know. Got taken back to the highs and lows of cancer and how your brain plays tricks on you which in turn support the person who’s cancer it is. Thank you Jo. This is a powerful listen that will bring you on a full journey through emotional spectrum.

Outstanding Story

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Loved this book. I felt I knew both Jo and Annie by the end. A great listen.

Humour despite the subject

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A frank and humourous memoir to the unique relationship of having, and being, a sister and what it means to lose one.

Bittersweet story of love, negotiating grief and sisterhood

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There is nothing I dislike about this book.
I am only a recent follower of Jo, loving her TV work and shows. I hadn't realised that she'd written about losing her sister.
Having lost a friend recently to cancer, she was as close as a sister to me, I was interested to know how Jo experienced and managed her grief.
At times her descriptions of Annie's decline were so heartbreakingly sad and really resonated with me. It was also lovely to know that it's OK to still want to go laugh at the silly stuff - things they said, their ego, their views on dying, 'the spa'. I adored this book, I would recommend it to anyone who has lost a sibling or close friend.

Such an honest description of loss

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This is a beautiful, funny, moving book. Jo Caulfield gives an unflinching, heartfelt account of her sister's illness and death, and doesn't shy away from how inconvenient and intrusive grief is, and how difficult family relationships can be, as well as the joy of them. Part of the proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Care so you should definitely buy it.

Funny and moving

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