Coffin Ready is a novel for the very brave. It confronts many issues that are sanitised out of society these days. A novel about grief and hope.
We follow the story from the perspective of two characters:
Julie is in her late 50’s and struggling with deep grief from the loss of her son several years before our story begins. She is considerably overweight and has a deep loathing for herself. Guilt consumes her. On top of all this her husband is entering the more severe stages of dementia and she is struggling to cope.
Gus is a young man in his late 20’s, he has just lost his best friend. His self esteem is at rock bottom, he is dealing with a challenging past that refuses to leave his thoughts.
Chapter by chapter, taking it turn by turn, our two characters process the pain of their lives and find a friendship that gives them hope, meaning and purpose.
Coffin Ready is written with a dark humour about the awful blows that life can deal. There is much suicide ideation and this may be difficult for some readers.
Notes from the author:
Coffin Ready is my first novel. During the process of writing I processed much of my own deep grief from childhood that I had not acknowledged. The journey was both challenging and cathartic. As my first experience with novel writing I realised a dream that had been with me for a very long time.
I used the novel to also explore my passion for cold water swimming and the mental benefits that come from this as well as the joy of the nature that is witnessed down by the coast at dawn.
You can buy Coffin Ready from me directly by subscribing to my Substack newsletter here and messaging me directly on that site. I am happy to send to you with free postage. If you prefer, you can buy from Amazon, all my books are listed with them.