A Life in Death

James Baker has spent his entire working life as a funeral director in and around the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire, the area of the Cotswolds immortalised in the book ‘Cider With Rosie’ by Laurie Lee. Having spent 25 years in the funeral profession so far, James will take you into the hidden world of death and funerals, telling the story of his journey from wide-eyed teenager on work experience to becoming one of the longest serving funeral directors in his locality. He will also illustrate how the funeral profession, so long defined by custom and tradition, has reinvented itself in the face of the most radical changes in the British way of death since the Second World War. If you’re fascinated to know what funeral directors actually do; if you want to understand more about what happens after a death and how funerals are arranged; or if you’re simply looking for an entertaining account of a unique working life, then this book was written for you. Over-sentimentality and lurid accounts of tragic episodes have been firmly avoided. Instead, writing as an experienced funeral director, James offers a sensitive but very honest and comprehensive account of what his working life is really like. This book was written not just to entertain, but also to enlighten and hopefully to reassure.