Good Grief

by Keith Waterhouse

Returning from the memorial service, June Pepper, middle-aged widow of a tough tabloid editor cut down in his prime, sets about following her late husband's instructions to keep a journal of her bereavement, as therapy. But he did not say anything about writing it down. It is therefore in the form of a stream-of-consciousness monologue to the departed Sam that June records her reflections on her new status of widowhood. And she is to find that this business of grieving is not the straightforward process she had imagined.

Audio Cassette

First published December 31, 1997

About the author

Keith Spencer Waterhouse CBE, was a novelist, newspaper columnist, and the writer of many television series.

Reviews

[Roz Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty and poignant. Waterhouse has a keen eye for singular and interesting characters and a sure hand with plot. Three-dimensional people, situations that are complex and very human. Enjoyed it a lot.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Britain's most celebrated comic writers of the 1960s & '70s was still penning satirical novels in 1997 & this one captures the bereavement of June, a second wife of a rascally but popular journalist & newspaper sub-editor in Fleet Street's post-war decline, Sam Pepper. By the end of the 236 pages, June has learned something more of her late, lamented husband's previous marriage & divorce, while hosting her husband's daughter, Pauline, while at the same time being exploited by various male & female leeches, aware that time is on their side with a mildly grieving widow. Waterhouse was always looking at life from an angle that gave him insight into human weaknesses & foibles, & this is no exception.