36 Hours

by Fiona Mason

Less than a year after being diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Fiona Mason's husband died at home. She was his carer. Unflinching in its detail, this book is a delicate chronicle of his last day and an account of thirty-six hours that changed her life. It's also an invitation to find better ways to talk about death and dying.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2022

Reviews

[Jane Kraut · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gift to this world. Sobbed through most of it. A necessary, beautiful read.

[Amber Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book about caring for your husband on the last day of their life- documented hour by hour. The descriptions of a home created and brief glimpses of the past, bring incredible detail into the 36 hours documented in the book. A short and compulsive read, I read it in a morning. Essential read for anyone exploring death/end of life- so ultimately, a book for us all.

[Philippa Hawley]

36 hours is a book describing the last 36 hours of a husband's like. It is beautifully written and presented.The clean and simple format and the short chapters are perfectly balanced, making the book easy to read despite its difficult subject matter. The words are well chosen and many thoughts it provoked will stay with me.

[Page by Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiona Mason fills the pages of this book with virtuosity. You are more than there, you feel it too. Of course, like all deaths, the time comes both quite unexpectedly and shockingly. I imagine this will be invaluable reading for those involved in any way with palliative care. Easily my memoir of the year with a narrative which wastes no one's time - it can't.

[Lydia Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non fiction of a wife's last 36 hours caring for her terminally ill husband. Absolutely beautiful, so so sad. Its under 200 pages which made it doable in a few hours & I think because its a continuation of such a short space of time about, such a sensitive subject it deserves to be read in one go rather than picked up and put down.

[Andrew Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful & Important Book

A first person testimony about caring for a loved one through the last day and half of their life. There is a surprising lack of texts like this. Real, unflinching, difficult to read at times, but beautifully written and wonderfully honest.