REVIEW:

I have to admit that although I am very far behind in my reading, I saw a book the other day and went down the rabbit hole. I thought I would read just a couple of pages and that was my undoing. I was lost in the book and couldn’t put it down. Down Among the Dead Men by Michelle Williams was laugh out loud funny and sad and all the emotions in between. 

Michelle was bored with her job at Britain’s National Health Service working with people who had learning disabilities and learned they had an opening for a Medical Technical Officer in the Mortuary. It caught her interest and she applied for the job. She has worked her way up and is now the Mortuary Manager. This book is about her first year of on the job training and all that comes her way.

One of the things that stands out to me is the care and respect  they had for every one of the deceased people who came through their doors. The consideration they had for the grieving families was above and beyond what you would expect. 

I learned a lot reading this book I didn’t know before and some things I never thought of before. I’ve watched a medical examiner show on television and learned a few things but, maybe because this book takes place in England, they do things a little differently than we do here in the States. I did enjoy some of their sayings that we don’t use here. 

If you want to jump off into something a little different, I highly recommend Michelle Williams book Down Among the Dead Men. Some of the cases will make you laugh, some will make you cry. You will certainly come away with a new understanding of their job and how they learn to adjust to the smells and sights. Until next time…Happy Reading!

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SYNOPSIS:

This deeply original and “entertaining memoir” pulls back the curtain on life at the morgue—introducing a colorful cast of characters you won’t soon forget (Booklist).

“Williams’s reminiscence does more than delight in the creepy and the ghoulish; it breathes life into the mortuary workers themselves.” —The Brooklyn Rail

Michelle Williams is young and attractive, with close family ties, a busy social life . . . and an unusual occupation. When she impulsively applies to be a mortuary technician and is offered the position, she has no idea that her decision to accept will be one of the most momentous of her life. “What I didn’t realize then,” she writes, “was that I was about to start one of the most amazing jobs you can do.” To Williams, life in the mortuary is neither grim nor frightening. She introduces readers to a host of unique characters: pathologists (many eccentric, some utterly crazy), undertakers, and the man from the coroner’s office who sings to her every morning. No two days are alike, and while Williams’s sensitivity to the dead never wavers, her tales from the crypt range from mischievous to downright shocking.

Readers won’t forget the fitness fanatic who is run over while doing nighttime push-ups on the road, the man so large he had to be carted in via refrigerated truck, or the guide dog who led his owner onto railway tracks—and left him there. The indomitable Williams never bats an eye, even as she is confronted—daily—with situations that would leave the rest of us speechless.