Past Mortems: Life and death behind mortuary doors (Paperback)
Carla Valentine (author)Published: 15/03/2018
A day in the life of Carla Valentine - curator, pathology technician and 'death professional' - is not your average day. She spent ten years training and working as an Anatomical Pathology Technologist: where the mortuary slab was her desk, and that day's corpses her task list. Past Mortems tells Carla's stories of those years, as well as investigating the body alongside our attitudes towards death - shedding light on what the living can learn from dead and the toll the work can take on the living souls who carry it out. Fascinating and insightful, Past Mortems reveals the truth about what happens when the mortuary doors swing shut or the lid of the coffin closes ...
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9780751565348
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 250 g
Dimensions: 196 x 127 x 19 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
It is an understatement to say that Valentine is passionate about embracing death ... Part memoir and part manifesto, Valentine's book lifts the lid on daily life in the mortuary ... [Valentine] bares her own soul ... with visceral attention to physical and emotional detail -- Wendy Moore Guardian a fascinating portrait ... one seriously intriguing read Glamour There are sections of Valentine's writing that fondly brought back my first post-mortem experience. Rather than listening to the pathologist's monologue about coronary arteries, I was mesmerised by the painstaking focus of the APT ... Valentine succeeds in presenting her trade as a caring one. -- Kate Womersley Spectator
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“Brilliant book”
I am retired now but during my working life I worked, among other jobs, as a theatre nurse. When I was still at school I wanted to be a doctor - but not working in hospital, a pathologist. I didn't get in the... More
“Undeniably my favourite book!”
Read this book within a week and for a busy college student, thats a statement! Undoubtedly the most enjoyable book I have read. It takes you through not only personal experiences which the author has encountered but... More
“It left me in stitches!”
A complete and utter delight of a book. I have always had a fascination with death and what happens to your body afterwards, so I couldn't leave this on the shelf. Carla is an engaging writer who balances the... More
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