‘Engaging, funny and
resoundingly human’
Books + Publishing
Coming soon.
A delightfully heartwarming story of four or more funerals and at least one wedding, from the bestselling author of Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year
'There are a lot of lonely people in the world, Martin. Especially when you get to our age. This is the one place you can come where nobody judges. Besides, you don't need to have known somebody personally to celebrate their life.'
Retired academic Martin Pottinger's romantic aspirations for the delectable head of his former university's archaeology department, Professor Mary Blake, seem about to be realised. If only he could devise a plan to manage the demands of his eccentric elderly mother, Edwina.
Recently bereaved Grace Cavendish spends her days helping out at All Souls Church, making it her mission to drown out the Reverend Rod's tone-deaf hymn-singing and give each funeral recipient a hearty send-off. Yet the peace she craves remains elusive despite the comforts offered by psychic medium Rhondda and her eight-year-old son, Hudson.
When Martin and Grace meet and bond at an All Souls service, they unwittingly set off a chain of events with far-reaching consequences. They become funeral crashers. But who could have predicted that crashing funerals might have such life-changing and life-affirming outcomes?
OUT 28TH OCTOBER 2025 IN AUSTRALIA AND NZ
“A warm, witty and uplifting tale of love in later life . . . I giggled, I was moved, and I now want to join Martin and Grace's choir. This is a story about life in all its mess and glory.”
Cassie Hamer
“In creating senior-driven stories free of stereotype and suffused with charm, Joanna has captured the wit, experience, smarts, attitude, sorrow and mischief of an age group that is all too often invisible.”
Better Homes & Gardens
Reviews
"Funny, insightful and deliciously refreshing – the most heartwarming book we've read in a long time."
Women's Weekly
"Whip-smart dialogue, humour and sarcasm...extremely well written and highly addictive."
Sun Herald
"A powerful work wrapped in a gentle cover of affection and fun…This is a wise, kind and insightful writer. An astute observer of the human condition."
Living Arts Canberra
About Jo
Joanna Nell is a British-Australian writer, GP and advocate for positive ageing. She is the author of five bestselling novels The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village, The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker, The Great Escape From Woodlands Nursing Home, The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital and Mrs Winterbottom takes a Gap Year.
Joanna's short fiction has won numerous awards and been published in magazines, journals and short story anthologies including Award Winning Australian Writing. She has also written for The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum and Sunday Life magazines.
