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Still - A Memoir
Delphine, long cast in the supporting role of politician's wife and mother to five children, spends her life tending to others. It's only after her husband's sudden death that she begins to live on her own terms – sea-swimming, travelling and embracing long-overdue freedom.
When she dies unexpectedly on a trip to the Galápagos Islands, her daughter Julia is left to make sense of a life that was both ordinary and extraordinary. In the quiet, clinical language of the post-mortem report, she finds an unlikely path to healing. Piece by piece, she reconstructs her mother – not as the exhausted figure of her childhood, but as a vibrant, complex woman finally free to be herself.
Still is a stunning portrait of grief, transformation and the lasting power of love. A deeply moving tribute to a woman who died as she had always longed to in the middle of a great adventure.
When she dies unexpectedly on a trip to the Galápagos Islands, her daughter Julia is left to make sense of a life that was both ordinary and extraordinary. In the quiet, clinical language of the post-mortem report, she finds an unlikely path to healing. Piece by piece, she reconstructs her mother – not as the exhausted figure of her childhood, but as a vibrant, complex woman finally free to be herself.
Still is a stunning portrait of grief, transformation and the lasting power of love. A deeply moving tribute to a woman who died as she had always longed to in the middle of a great adventure.
149 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2025
About the author
Julia Kelly
67 books29 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 25, 2025
I really struggled with this one. The story follows a woman in her sixties mourning the death of her mother - a common life experience at this age, yet it’s treated like a unique tragedy. We're walked through her hardship of growing up on Ailesbury road depicting daily family life. After pocketing a fortune from selling the mansion - she tears through the million-euro inheritance, then acts shocked when it’s gone. Well yeah, you spent it. There’s a subplot about trying for a baby with a partner suffering from dementia. The storyline sometimes felt like a slow-moving pity party.
There are moments of strong writing. She’s occasionally funny – even mentions someone compares her to James Joyce at one point, which gave me a chuckle. The bond with her Mam in daily family life is depicted in detail. That’s the real heart of the book. But overall, the lack of self-awareness and the sense of entitlement made this a tough read. Just not for me.
There are moments of strong writing. She’s occasionally funny – even mentions someone compares her to James Joyce at one point, which gave me a chuckle. The bond with her Mam in daily family life is depicted in detail. That’s the real heart of the book. But overall, the lack of self-awareness and the sense of entitlement made this a tough read. Just not for me.
April 28, 2026
This book wasn’t my favorite but man did it have some one-liners:
“were you more yourself in this photograph, before we even knew you?”
“yet for all she has lost - father, grandmother, sister - she has gained precious and invaluable gifts: resilience, empathy, and a maturity far beyond her years”
“the fatigue of grief is staggering”
“that’s strange because she and I were just chatting”
“but now you are still”
It took me a while to connect with this book but once I did, I think I felt everything the author was trying to portray without saying it.
“were you more yourself in this photograph, before we even knew you?”
“yet for all she has lost - father, grandmother, sister - she has gained precious and invaluable gifts: resilience, empathy, and a maturity far beyond her years”
“the fatigue of grief is staggering”
“that’s strange because she and I were just chatting”
“but now you are still”
It took me a while to connect with this book but once I did, I think I felt everything the author was trying to portray without saying it.
September 20, 2025
Julia Kelly has written a sensitive and loving tribute to her mother, Delphine, who died in a tragic drowning accident. Julia remembers the dedicated politician's wife constrained by the mundane domestic duties of a mother of 5 children who, when widowed, embraced learning and world-wide travels. Beautiful writing.
December 4, 2025
Strange memoir based on the autopsy report. Very physical but also tender
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews