Death of an Ordinary Man

There was relief, and there was loss – it was the saddest thing we’d ever seen, and the best thing we had ever done.

Sarah Perry’s father-in-law David was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in November 2022. Nine days later, he died. This extraordinary book recounts the last days of David’s life, and what it took for Sarah and her husband Rob to care for him at home until the end.

David’s suburban bungalow becomes, for these nine days, the whole world. All around them are the details of an ordinary ma