Hayley Campbell's "All the Living and the Dead" isn't your typical exploration of death. It delves deep into the lives of those who work in the death industry, offering a unique and often unsettling perspective.

Campbell's narration adds a personal touch, weaving her childhood fascination with death into the narrative. Through a series of candid interviews, she sheds light on the motivations and experiences of a fascinating cast of characters - from morticians and embalmers to crime scene cleaners and even a former executioner.

The book doesn't shy away from the macabre. Campbell's vivid descriptions bring you face-to-face with the realities of death, forcing you to confront your own fears and societal taboos surrounding mortality.

"All the Living and the Dead" is a thought-provoking and challenging listen. It compels you to question your own relationship with death and the way our society treats the deceased.

I have read a number of books about forensic investigators, and have seen reality TV shows about funeral home workers, but this is book explores other aspects of professionals who work with the dead that I had thought little about. What type of coordinated effort needs to happen when there is a mass casualty? Who is specially trained to offer support to grieving mothers who lose their newborns?

Hayley Campbell spent time in "the field," interviewing a variety of death workers, and in some instances, shadowing them at their jobs, allowing the reader a look at little-known aspects of post-mortem professionals. Whether it's in the embalming room or death-scene cleanup, she relates her experiences in a compassionate and easily readable manner.

For most people, the burning question remains, what happens after we die? And while no one person can claim knowledge over this, we forget to ask, what happens on this side after we die? This book was well written and gives depth to the latter question. It helps clarify why we so often over look or look away entirely from death, what makes us so uncomfortable with it even. This book has informative content, again, it’s very well written and immersive, I highly recommend it!

This was a wonderful story written by author Hayley Campbell. I really enjoyed the world building and the character development within All the Living and the Dead. Thank you to all for allowing me to read this eARC!

Life and death go hand in hand, which is something author Hayley Campbell seems to understand and be fascinated by. In "All the Living and the Dead", she interviews grave diggers, homicide detectives, a bereavement midwife whose specialty is stillbirths and babies who will soon pass away, embalmers, and executioners. She asks them all what it is like to live so close to death.
While this read is not a cheery walk in the park, fans of true crime or just the morbidly-inclined will appreciate how looking at the business of death can give you a greater appreciation and respect for life.

This is a really interesting book about death and the way it's viewed. Or in most cases, not viewed. A great exploration into the way we treat death and the ways we try to hide it instead of trying to gain a better understanding of what it means to be dead.

Interesting book and especially for those of us in the US. Apparently there is quite a difference in the way bodies are prepared and the customs in the different locations. The cover gives an adequate so I will not provide a book report. I was provided an advanced copy art my request and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to author,publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this!

This was a really fascinating look at the death industry. The anecdotes the author gives as she meets with people in all sorts of death-fields were very captivating. There were some sad or shocking moments, but overall the feeling that there’s good people looking out for our loved ones when they die was my biggest takeaway.

A beautifully written work with the perspectives of those that work in the death professions. Morbidly fascinating and written with great respect for the dead these professionals work with and unique perspectives on facing and dealing with death.

I love nonfiction and was so delighted to hear about ALL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. It was well written and enjoyable to read. I’ve already bought a hardback for research on one of my books!

Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up

A book with a truly tragic genesis, the author losing a baby at birth; but it led her to look for her grief to be assuaged in discovering the connective tissue in our society's death industry. She made a terrible tragedy into a very interesting study and came away with the kind of book that many of us read with squeamishness as we're utterly disconnected from death.

No one doesn't think about death, and dying; and, as we've professionalized and medicalized every part of the process, we're going to the bookshelf for our answers. Luckily there are those among us who like learning things and then explaining them. (As long as they're not men, they're lauded for it.) Author Hayley Campbell did a major research project in this book's genesis. It comes across more in the endnotes...they're extensive. I realize I'm very much in the minority here, but I prefer endnotes with spiffy little superscript numbers that, in ebooks, function as hyperlinks; I'm perfectly willing to navigate away from the page when I want to know something's source. But la, the wishes and the wants of one not the author, or the editor, are mere wing-flappings of the tiniest of midges. (I'm waxing lyrical. Send help!) Encountering, for example, the saline hydrocremation process was something I wanted to know more about right then and there...but you can bet your sweet bippy I've bookmarked the UK <I>WIRED Magazine</i> story for future discovery.

A less delightful thing that somewhat tarnished my reading experience, and is the source of the missing half-star on the rating about, was the lived experience of her tragic loss of a baby. It was very, very present in the text. It is a loss second to none in the world for painful permanence. As such it felt, to be honest, overused as a rhetorical device. This is a subjective measure, and I freely acknowledge that a recently bereaved parent might find this inclusion unobtrusive, or positively helpful. I did not.

The other side of that coin, however, was my discovery that there are certain souls, who if there is a god deserve a total and complete remission from their sins, who specialize in bereavement midwifery. How very, very beautiful a soul those people must possess. How vast their reserves of kindness and empathy must be. And how deeply glad I am that they do this job.

Executioners, on the utterly other hand, aren't people I think should be employed. I have this wacky idea that killing people is wrong. Killing them as a profession is not one iota different in my own eyes to being a serial killer. And that, mes vieux, is that. (The executioner interview was interesting, I will admit, but changed my opinion not one jot.)

While I'm sure others might feel triggered at a frank discussion of the process of one's body's cessation of function, it fascinated me. It is a sad truth that most people in today's Western, privileged society have little or nothing to do with their dying fellow beings. They're the ones most in need of this book's honesty. I fear they won't pick it up and I truly advise you, should you be so unfortunate as to face your own mortality in an imminent way, to read and gift this fascinating story of what dealing with death truly entails.

I will always advocate for the "it's better to know than to wonder and fear" end of the information-reading spectrum. Author Hayley makes the process of educating yourself about the aftermath of dying as painless and as compelling as is, for example, one of the mysteries or thrillers that so many of us devour.

All of us has had some type of experience with the death of someone. This book goes in depth with the people who assist them (executioners), embalmers, funeral directors and medical examiners and a variety of other people as well as how it affects their mental health. This was such a compelling and eye opening book. Wonderfully written and you can tell a lot of research was done.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.

This book was informative and spiritual. It opened my eyes and satisfied my curiosity. It is written with the utmost respect for the dead and for the people who work with them day in and day out.

Ms Campbell tactfully approaches our perception of death and roles associated with it in modern Western cultures. By analyzing each role in a snapshot provided by her extensive research and interviews, readers gain a better appreciation for the unsung heroes who stand on the threshold of two worlds. Quotes are carefully cited and further reading list provided for further investigation. Short index and memorable chapter titles make for easy navigation. It is an emotional journey to read, but an enlightening one as well.

All the Living and the Dead is by Hayley Campbell, a prolific writer and journalist from the UK who has written for numerous publications, including BuzzFeed, GQ, and the Guardian. This is her second book, following The Art of Neil Gaiman, which she published in 2014.

In a similar style to books by Caitlin Doughty, Campbell interviews and writes about a wide range of people who make their living working with the dying and the dead. Among those she speaks with are a retired executioner, a bereavement midwife, embalmers, and a man who cleans up messy scenes of death. As a social worker who deals with death, dying, and grief frequently professionally, and is interested in these topics personally, I enjoyed this book deeply. It brought an empathic and fascinating lens to the topic of death, which opened my understanding of what it means to live, to die, and to care for both the living and the dead.

** Thanks so much to NetGalley, Hayley Campbell, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC! All the Living and the Dead is out now! **

Hayley Campbell takes her readers on a journey across continents and through doors most people never get to see behind. Doors which, honestly, most people probably don't want to see behind.

With chapters detailing her visits and experiences with various members of the "death industry", Campbell introduces us to embalmers, pathologists, detectives, morticians, gravediggers, and more. She talks with the people responsible for cremations, for putting make-up on corpses, for dealing with large-scale disasters, for flipping the switch when a person is executed.

I found this book to be less humorous than many of the recent offerings dealing with this subject matter. Although Campbell does share some of the dry quips that her interviewees gave her, this particular book is more introspection than anything. Campbell is working through some things herself as she learns more and more about the industry and the people who work within it, and she shares her doubts and questions with the readers as she goes along.

I found the chapter on bereavement midwives and pregnancy/infant loss to be heartbreaking. As a woman who has experienced this particular grief personally, those pages brought up memories so strong that I could only read a little at a time before having to put the book down.

All in all, a book full of interesting people doing interesting (and yes, a bit macabre) jobs, with a bit of philosophizing on the part of the author - who does not try to give us answers, but rather simply states facts and brings up questions. Enjoyable and fascinating for those who like learning about the darker side of things.

Thanks to John Scalzi for tweeting about this book and putting it on my radar.

I found this book absolutely fascinating. I had never consider the careers people have (beyond a funeral home director) that involve death. This book is in depth and explores little talked about careers.

Really intriguing book. I applaud the author for the amount of research put into the subject of death and how she is able to dismantle a lot of taboos surrounding the subject of death.
As humans I think most of us have a difficult time navigating anything dealing with death and this book helps make it feel more “normal” and less scary.
The way she somehow managed to tell the stories of people and also explore so many different subjects was impressive.
Unfortunately it was a little info heavy for me and I had to set it down. Hoping to come back to it sometime in the future though.

This was really insightful and thought provoking. At some points the execution lacked and could be slow but over all the book was pretty strong.some parts may be disturbing for readers. For me, I was over all fine. But it did get graphic. I think it was a very fascinating read. It seemed very well researched. Very informative and real.

Absolutely devoured and loved this ARC. I have always had a morbid curiosity and found this book fascinating. The cover art is gorgeous. Definitely fitting for fans of Stiff or Caitlin Doughty.