Finding The Plot: 100 Graves to Visit Before You Die

(Paperback)

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Description

In this riveting book - part travelogue, part biography, part social history - Ann Treneman of The Times takes you to some of the most interesting graves in Britain. You will meet the real War Horse, the best 'funambulist' ever, Byron and his dog Boatswain, prime ministers, queens and kings, Florence Nightingale and her pet baby owl Athena, highwaymen, scientists, mistresses, the real James Bond and, of course, his boss 'M'. Then there are writers, painters, poets, rakes and rogues, victims, the meek and mild and the just plain mad. This unique travelogue is made up of 100 entries, each telling the story of one or more graves. Some of the graves are chosen for who resides in them, others for the grave itself. Some entries are humorous, some are poignant, but all tell us something about the British way of death. At times absurd, at times astounding, in Finding the Plot Ann Treneman proves an entertaining guide to the Anglo-Saxon underworld!

Reviews

'The most fun I have ever had with dead bodies' - Bill Bryson; 'Ann Treneman proves in this delightful as well as weirdly uplifting book, it's quite possible to be funny about death without tipping too far into flippancy... [This book] is a small victory for a different view of death, in its own quirky way.' - Mail on Sunday; 'Death, as the saying goes, becomes her - and in Ann Treneman's case, this intriguing dip-in-dip-out tome does illuminating work with a varied cast of the great and the good.' - Daily Mail; "Graving" may sound like a gloomy activity but Treneman's fascinating trawl through burial sites proves it is anything but.' - The Observer; 'A lovely idea, festooned with good stories.' - The Guardian; "It's dead good." - The Times

Author Bio

Ann Treneman is an award-winning journalist who is the chief theatre critic for The Times and was their parliamentary sketch-writer for more than ten years. She has also worked as a feature writer for The Times and The Independent and was previously foreign editor of The Observer. Born in America, she has lived in Britain for the past thirty years. She is the author of three books of parliamentary sketches: Annus Horribilis: The Worst Year in British Politics (2009), Dave & Nick: The Year of the Honeymoon (2011) and All In This Together: My Five Years as a Political Stalker (2015).