LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE Mrs Death tells her intoxicating story in this
life-affirming fire-starter of a novelMrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted from an
eternity of her job and now seeks someone to unburden her conscience to. Wolf Willeford a
troubled young writer is well acquainted with death but until now hadn't met Death in person:
a black working-class woman who shape-shifts and does her work unseen. Enthralled by her
stories Wolf begins to write Mrs Death's memoirs. Together they travel across time and place
to witness deaths of past and present. As the two reflect on the losses they have experienced
(or facilitated) their friendship grows into a surprising affirmation of hope resilience and
love. All the while despite her world-weariness Death must continue to hold humans' fates in
her hands appearing in our lives when we least expect her . . .
