#BlogTour: The Life of Death by Lucy Booth #LucyBooth @Unbounders @AnneCater #RandomThingsTour #TheLifeOfDeath

Welcome to The Reading Closet on my day of The Life of Death blog tour, many thanks to Anne Cater for having me on-board another superb blog tour, as well as Unbound for the copy of this read. The Life of Death was published by Unbound on the 2nd of May in paperback, e-book and audiobook format. You can purchase your very own copy here!

About The Author

Lucy Booth was born in Suffolk and grew up in Cheshire. In 2011 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Undaunted, Lucy not only continued working as a freelance producer but, in a typically forthright and humorous fashion, wrote a blog lucifersboob.blogspot.co.uk about her cancer experience. She also felt the urge to write a novel – The Life of Death is the result. Lucy died in August 2016, aged thirty-seven. She was funny, brave and an inspiration to all who knew and loved her.

One soul. One pact with the Devil. One chance at love.
Elizabeth Murray has been condemned to burn at the stake. As she awaits her fate, a strange, handsome man visits her cell. He offers her a deal: her soul in return for immortality, but what he offers is not a normal life. To survive Elizabeth must become Death itself.
Elizabeth must ease the passing of all those who die, appearing at the point of death and using her compassion to guide them over the threshold. She accepts and, for 500 years, whirls from one death to the next, never stopping to think of the life she never lived. Until one day, everything changes. She – Death – falls in love.
Desperate to escape the terms of her deal, she summons the man who saved her. He agrees to release her on one condition: that she gives him five lives. These five lives she must take herself, each one more difficult and painful than the last

My Thoughts

The prologue had me welling up, it most definitely hit all the emotional chords in such a powerful way. I found the whole of The Life of Death emotional raw and aesthetically captivating, I could feel my heart squeeze out tears from page one. It was so breathtakingly eloquently in writing and imagery. This is Lucy booths literary legacy and it is wonderful, heart-breaking, romantic and chilling!

We are drawn back into 1567 Scotland, where Elizabeth Murray has been accused of witchcraft, due to be punished through burning at the stake., that is until she makes a deal with the devil; immortality for her soul, she accepts her new occupation as death – as the comfort to the dying, the hands that causes it. After the first chapter, you can’t help but be enveloped into a story about facing ones own death, as well as realising death is an individualistic concept that may not mean the same to everyone. The themes of the novel include what happens after death, when our soul leaves our body etc. It feels as though it’s somewhat written as a comfort not only to Lucy herself but to the readers, to not fear death as it is just another journey, not an ending.

After the deal has been made we fast forward 500 years when Elizabeth misses the feeling of humanity, she’s tired of taking souls away from those who are loved without feeling that surge of love herself over centuries. You sympathise with her so much, rooting for her wish to break away from the Devil and follow her heart. The poetically beautiful penmanship will keep you engrossed in the narrative, as well as the creeping darkness that lurks just under the surface of the dialogue which will leave you with chills all over.

A book of a tragedy, love and self – sacrifice, in words of Meatloaf ‘I would do anything for love’, but how far would you actually go the one you love? What sacrifices would you make to live your life? I read the whole of The Life of Death in one greedy gulp that left me completely and utterly breathless, while still wanting more.

If I haven’t convinced you to whizz over to purchase your own copy of The Life of Death you should most definitely check out the blogger’s reviews who came before me on this tour!