Finding the Plot: 100 Graves to Visit Before You Die

by Ann Treneman

From the splendour of Nelson's tomb in the crypt of St Paul's to the more commonplace gravestone of Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, this guide selects the most interesting resting places to visit in Britain, telling the stories of the lives and deaths of the memorialized. Arranged geographically, the selection ranges from the much-visited shrine to Marc Bolan in Barnes to the Leicester car park where Richard III's remains were found.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History

Unknown Binding

First published September 26, 2013

Reviews

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

They couldn't be too depressing or upsetting. I put very few recent graves on my list and I thought long and hard about those I did. For instance, I figure that Philip Gould, the political strategist who died in 2011 and wrote a book about his experience of dying, would actually want to be on the list. I was also wary of murder victims, This is a book about lives, not deaths. — Ann Treneman

This is another book I'm reading due to my current interest in graves and memorials for a university assignment. I'm so pleased I chose to read this despite it being not in my country and heavily personal. This is Ann Treneman's 100 favourite graves, she does provide her criteria. Though it's not necessarily about the graves themselves for some it's about the story, for some it's about the contrasts between what they wanted and what they got or between a husband and a wife. Yes, for some they are just beautiful graves that caught her attention as she was looking for other graves.

Finding the plot reads as part travel guide part short-form biographies. Treneman has divided her book into many subsections. London (with four subsections), East of England, South-East of England, South-West England, West of England, The Midlands, The North, Scotland, and Wales. There is an additional section And the award goes to... with top fives in multiple categories, some are obvious things to rank some not so much.  Each section (or subsection) is introduced by a cartoon featuring one of the deceased/true characters and something of a map as to where each grave is. This is the part that makes part travel guide, that and each entry contains the address including a contemporary map reference. Other elements are a name both a best-known name and a legal name, a reason they are known/ societal role and birth and death dates. Though interestingly not the plot number for large cemeteries which surprises me.

There is some pleasing variety to the way the entries are written. Marje Proops was an agony aunt her section is written as Dear Marje signed 'from a fan'. Some like Cassandra Elizabeth Austen and Jane Austen are people who are linked but buried in different cemeteries. Some are linked another way, either by their burial site or thematically. There are a couple of notable memorials; The Unkown Warrior at Westminster Abbey for all the soldiers left unidentified in conflicts. Postman's Park: The Memorial to the Heroic Self-Sacrifice, a wall dedicated to those who showed heroism in everyday life, its creation spurned by the sacrifice of Alice Ayres. The Hancock Family unlike the other two this is a specific family, all died to the plague honestly this feels a bit like a monument to the death of plague victims. The chapter is shared with Catherine Mompesson, the Vicar's wife is a story that feels so relevant in the shadow of Covid-19. The Cross Bones Graveyard is just plain interesting, a 1525-1853 graveyard for outcasts, starting with sex workers widening to paupers.

Some of my favourite graves or just comments on chapters.
• Jeremy Bentham — Bentham is a man I am well aware of. I love panopticons as a theory, I live in Australia we have one of the first panopticons that was built. Relevant to his grave? No, but it's nice to start with a person I am aware of.
• Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson — That is honestly the most seafaring way to be dealt with... Nelson, a naval hero, was pickled to get him back to land. I didn't know whom his sarcophagus was supposed to belong to, Cardinal Woolsey who fell foul of Henry VIII (who lived over 250 years previously).
• Marc Bolan — The lead signer of T.Rex. Only included here to allow me to include Ride A White Swan because it's a total earworm.
• Marguerite Radclyffe Hall ('John') — "Thus 'John'  —   as Hall preferred to be called, considering herself an 'invert' to use the sexologist term of the day" Using our modern language I'm reading this as Hall was trans, they lived life to the full. Honestly, this is one of those entries I want to know more about.
• Thomas Hardy — Like Dickens people, fans in high places, overrode his wishes. Unlike Dickens, he overcame that. His ashes are in Westminster, his heart is in the place he always wanted to be St Michaels Church, Sinsford.
• Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley — Oh dear lord... While the entry is focused on famed feminist and writer Godwin and her daughter writer Shelley. But they share a grave with philosopher William Godwin, Percy Florence, Mary Shelley's son and the heart of Percy Bysshe Shelly (I mean that she owned his heart is something). And their story is utter chaos deserving of a soap opera. These women are legendary but there is little overlap in their stories, Shelley never knew her parents
• Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsield — All I could think of this was we do love a man who honours and respect the women who made him. In this case his wife, his queen and his benefactor. I really like a line he reportedly said to Quen Victoria "You have heard me called a flattered and it is true, Everyone likes flattery; and when it comes to royalty, you should lay it on with a trowel." (Queen Victoria liked frankness).
• Andre Tchaikowsky — How did I not know that the skull used by Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Hamlet is a real skull? He's known simply as Andre. The person to use him was David Tennent in 2008, Tchaikowsky donated his skull in 1982.
• John Brown — Queen Victoria was a loyal friend to have. (Pity Edward VII was such a dick and tried to destroy that legacy.) I'd heard of Brown but this gave me more than most.
• Charles Stuart Rolls — 33, he was 33 when he died. This man was the same age as me when he died and he gifted the world a hell of a legacy. I had no idea he was so young, though should not be surprised. His primary hobby? Flying. At the turn of the 20th century. Yes, he came from money, but still.

Echoing some of what has been said by others. This would be a fantastic book to take with you when going with you to visit these graves. Some are off the beaten path, like Marc Bolan (both his plot and his shrine are included), some provide an "ah so that is where you are buried" moment, like Steve McQueen, some are brilliant stories asking you to wonder why, Charles Dickens and some might lead you to look into the person more and share their story, Rachel Beer (nee Sasson). Including the groups of people in a singles chapter, animals and the monuments was an intelligent choice. It shows how people can be linked across time, the importance people place on various things. I really appreciate the illustrations and writing style. There is a soft humour that is effective that is becoming of the subject matter, like the idea of the author being stalked (haunted?) by Dickens on her graveyard explorations. The And the award goes to... chapter is a good idea. There aren't as many double ups as I would have expected. I said it would be a  good guidebook this is still a very good book, still very worth the read if the subject interests you.

There will be people about the place looking at graves, looking at my grave, so it will be a communal meeting point between the living and the dead. It sounds very romantic, I know. But the dead and the living are both part of our lives. It gives me great comfort to know that I will be there. — Philip Gould, Baron Gould of Brookwood

Rather than a gif I'm going to include images of some of the graves included in the book.

Frederick Leyland: This is just an unusual design that I could barely visualise when it was described

Source: image credit to Greywolf Royal Park.org.au

John and Eliza Soane: The tomb that inspired the classic red phone box (designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, architect and trustee of the Soane Museum). Architect John Soane designed the tomb for his beloved wife.

Source: Image credit Björn Haglund (Find A Grave)

Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice: The same website has some of the panels in detail though not Ayers.

Source: London City Guide

John Renie:  A housepainter who loved word games. It is a stunning design. Wikipedia has a focus image of just the puzzle.

Source: Image Credit: Louvain Rees

[isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting little tidbits but i found the author’s voice so grating and smug

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very hotchpotch book, with no clear theme as to their selection, apart from them all being graves or memorials. A lot of interesting ones but perhaps I should have dipped into the book, instead of reading it in one go. It definitely needed photos of the graves, to save me having to Google them.
And the author’s geography is way off! Stratford’s in the Midlands, Hampshire is in the south etc.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. I learnt quite a lot about people I had only heard about and some I had never heard of, and although it wasn't supposed to be humorous the section about Thomas Crapper had me laughing my head off in places.

[Jim Topping · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have visited a great deal ofgraveyards, many with my children. All have been rewarding. So this book was a must. Entertaining informative and well laid out in format. Im keeping this one, as I plan to visit some of the graveyards listed.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really intresting, with mention of people who I was not aware of, but facinated by nevertheless.

[David Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good.

A great book to read about people that are still rather well known,plus the many that are less well known.

[La Noche Oscura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there was a worldwide edition of this book...

[Sel Rou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book about the resting place - stories & gravestones if 100 famous, infamous, celebrities and unknown heroes and villains.

[Maaike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alleen al de quote van Bill Bryson zet aan tot lezen. Vermakelijk. Hoe macaber het ook is.

[Weasel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an interesting book - but it's a little oddly ordered and there isn't ultimately a huge amount of content.

The geographical spread is poor (the author made a deliberate choice to focus mostly on London, for their own reasoning, but the spread of the other c.45 graves isn't great, and southwest England is more just south, and west is kinda, southern central).
Within each area chapter they are alphabetical, but some have details in other sections and it means graves that are in the same cemetary are spread thoughout.

I didn't really get an actual feel of why most of the graves were chosen. And for stating a focus on the lives of those featured, the details don't always give much of that, some focus the most on the manner of death.

There are also a lot more than 100 graves covered (as neighbouring graves, nearby graves and related graves get mentioned in many).

[Shaun McAlister · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone with an often debilitating fear of death I can't help but be fascinated with the subject so there was some hesitancy in starting this book. Not all of the 100 graves interested me and I must admit to skipping over a few if this remained the case a few paragraphs in. Others had me adding pages to my reading list to look up more on the lives of those mentioned. But perhaps the best part of this book for me was reminding me that I need to visit Westminster Abbey next time I am in London and maybe even take a trip to Highgate Cemetery if I have time. For even though I fear it I find it oddly relaxing (for a time) to walk among the monuments to the dead. I know, I'm strange.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, nice short articles that I could read quickly if not that interested, and look up more online if I was. 3.5 stars, knocked down to 3 rather than up to 4 for the peculiar geography. Yes, I got why it was London centric, even if I don't entirely agree with it, but Winchester is not in the south west, however you look at it.

[Carrie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for those that enjoy historical tidbits about characters from British history. The author tours the graveyards of England and Scotland and brings historical perspective to life stories of some famous and not so famous.
I listened to this via audiobook and have recommended it to others.

[Stephanie Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, enjoyable and generally wonderful book which was a chance discovery in the library. It's given me a new interest - funeral art and tomb design - which seems to have been something of a Victorian speciality. If there is a fault, it's the lack of pictures - but I suppose it is designed to get people out of the house and exploring, so in retrospect that's not a bad thing.

[Sam Herbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a who's who and where's where of the (author's) Top 100 graves to see before you die. The book documents a variety of weird, wonderful and famous people, with a short story about them and about how they came to their final resting place. Funny, moving and oddly fascinating actually.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little snippets of history. Would be better to go with the book and visit the graves.

[Pieter Stok · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a cemetery tragic and an Anglophile so I loved it.

[Sharon Eyre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been a lot to interesting. And the graves near to I those featured should have been included in the index!