Margareta Magnusson
Genre: Self Help, Memoir, Homecare, Decorating
I listened to the audiobook, purchased from Audible, and read by Juliet Stevenson.
I listened to this delightful little book on the one-way drive from Virginia to home. While it is about the Death Cleaning in the title, it's also about a life well-lived. It is almost a kind of memoir told through the lens of possessions. She is not a minimalist, preaching that we ought to have nothing but the things we use, but instead she gently reminds us to keep and care for the things that truly connect us to our life. She teaches a kind of sweet, careful curating of our belongings.
She does discuss some processes for slowly and gradually beginning the task of preparing for one's inevitable death, but it's not a how-to book. It describes her experiences and highlights her philosophy. She emphasizes that death cleaning is not sad, but is relieving and helpful. It allows us to enjoy what we have during our remaining time and also make things easier for our loved ones after we are gone.
I loved this one. The narrator, Juliet Stevenson has one of the loveliest, most soothing voices ever, and this book felt comforting, encouraging and delightful. The author has a sharp mind and a subtle, dry sense of humor that keeps it from any kind of pretentiousness or preachiness. It resonated with me as I seek to do this very thing. I love my stuff and the joy it brings me, and this gave me some practical framing for the task ahead of me to leave this earth having treasured all the things I've been privileged to own, yet without burdening my children with the task of dealing with too many of them.
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