Review of Claire North's Latest

The End of the Day by Claire North
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, first of all, I should note that I've loved Claire North ever since I read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August while sitting on a transatlantic aircraft and suffering a minor psychotic episode. So there. I'm biased in her favour to begin with and this book has done absolutely nothing to reduce that pro-North bias.

The basic premise is, Charlie, the central character is the Harbinger of Death. He applied for the job like any other when he came out of college and I have to say, despite the events of the novel, which I will not describe in order to reduce the chance of spoilers, I would LOVE that job.

Charlie is presented as a beautifully humane character who is always interested in living people. He is dignified in the face of adversity and probably the nicest man you'll ever meet.

In the beginning, I thought there was a clear lot through the book, but it's more a series of linked stories that follow one after the other not in the way it usually happens in novels but more in the way it happens in a life. Beautifully done.


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