ALL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work

Journalist Hayley Campbell explores the often hidden world of those who work closely with death, visiting their workplaces and finding small displays of compassion in some unexpected settings. In this author-narrated work, Campbell's British accent and matter-of-fact delivery take the listener on a tour of mortuaries, postmortem experimentation, death-mask artistry, crime-scene cleaning, executions, embalming, emergency management and recovery, and cryogenics, among other topics. Campbell's morbid fascination is evident in her tone as she sheds light on curiosities surrounding a subject that is foreign to many people, and she spares no details--no matter how messy or disquieting. Ultimately, Campbell calls for a closer relationship to death, less mystery surrounding this universal passage, and a reduction of fear through greater understanding. S.E.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2022]