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A Habit of Dying
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'A Habit of Dying' follows the unusual quest of Lydia Silverstream in her attempt to re-unite a family heirloom with its rightful owner. Her journey begins with an innocent box of family photographs, but takes a more sinister turn with the discovery of a disturbing private journal.
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Paperback, 288 pages
Published
December 9th 2010
by Troubador Publishing
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This is an unusual book and therefore hard to cateogrise. Lydia a divorced woman in her 40's has a passion for family history, not her own, instead she sets herself a puzzle by bidding for a lot of albums at an auction. Once she has taken the box she finds photo albums, postcards and ledgers filled with notes and sets about finding someone to inherit these items and along with all the facts she finds out along the way.
Following Lydia's trail as someone interested in family history was a joy, for ...more
Following Lydia's trail as someone interested in family history was a joy, for ...more
I looked forward to reading this book as I'm a keen family historian. I was a little disappointed. There was so much detail about the research than anyone not experienced would find it boring. THe number of names is confusing. There's no need to give details of the streets characters drive or walk down as this means nothing to people who don't know the towns involved.
I did get into the story and was interested to finish it. ...more
I did get into the story and was interested to finish it. ...more
I had the pleasure of reading the beginning chapters of A Habit of Dying when the author D.J. Wiseman was still in the polishing stages at the writer critique site YouWriteOn. At the time I remember thinking the plot an intriguing idea. I very much wanted to read the rest and was not to be disappointed when I finally got my chance. All families have skeletons in the closet and the family Lydia Silverstream begins to study after she finds an old box of photo albums is no different. Like any burie
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Far to much unnecessary information !
The premise is very good--that Lydia went to an estate sale and picked up a box full of albums. Then she very painstakingly teased out the details to put the story of the family together. Her purpose was to locate a living descendant to whom she could give the family history along with the albums. As an amateur genealogist myself, it sounds like fun thing to try sometime, possibly.
I read this book on my kindle. I thought it would have been really nice to see a family tree of the subject family o ...more
I read this book on my kindle. I thought it would have been really nice to see a family tree of the subject family o ...more
A fantastic novel about family history and intrigue set in Oxford, England....but then I would say that - the author is my father!
Transparency rules.
Here is the official bumf:
From her home in Oxford, Lydia’s travels take her to the Lake District, Cambridge, Essex and Sussex. Along the way she meets Stephen, who becomes the sounding-board for her theories. She also meets Dorothy, a descendant of the long lost family. As the original purpose of her quest is fulfilled, the potentially deadly secret ...more
Transparency rules.
Here is the official bumf:
From her home in Oxford, Lydia’s travels take her to the Lake District, Cambridge, Essex and Sussex. Along the way she meets Stephen, who becomes the sounding-board for her theories. She also meets Dorothy, a descendant of the long lost family. As the original purpose of her quest is fulfilled, the potentially deadly secret ...more
I thought A Habit of Dying was a cracking good read. It uses the rather original device of hanging a mystery and several very human storylines on the process of genealogical research. Clearly an experienced genealogist Mr Wiseman creates an intriguing mystery which is by no means a dry description of a research project. The characters were very well drawn and I found myself very involved with both the living and the dead. And I learned something about the business of genealogy.
Can't wait for Mr ...more
Can't wait for Mr ...more
Lydia, a rather frumpy and insecure 40-ish divorcee, has an unusual approach to family history. She acquires a collection of old photo albums at an auction and tries to find find a present day family who are descended from those pictured in the album, eventually tracking down an elderly lady. What she doesn't tell the recipient however, is a disturbing find amongst the holiday snaps - a narrative that appears to be a plan to commit a murder....
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Great to see a novel about genealogy - an unexpectedly gentle story (makes a change from drama for the sake of it), nicely told, but for me it didn't really take me anywhere I haven't already been. Those relatively new to genealogy should definitely look out for this book as I think they would find it very interesting.
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The story is interesting in terms of sleuthing the people and family relationships as well as what happened to all of them. But the somewhat long sections of reading about a person reading a journal can be tedious. And the story in a story is somewhat depressing in places. That is balanced by the comparisons of people and perspectives with varying lifestyles.
This book will dispel any myths that family history is boring! The story unfolds like a detective story and at times I simply couldn't put it down as I was propelled into Lydia's tale and intrigued as to what the next twist would be. I wish there was a sequel.
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Jan 16, 2016
Pat Taylor
added it
Whilst the basic plot was a good one I got hopelessly confused with all the various threads of the family being researched so I skipped large chunks of it. I stuck at it because I wanted to see what the outcome was but as it was unresolved I felt I had rather wasted 8 days of my life!
Jul 24, 2011
Amanda Moorcroft
added it
This is a fabulous book. I couldn't put it down. I wanted to be in it and would love to look into my own family history now. A must for anyone who has ever thought of tracing their family, if not still a fab read.
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Gets you in
Loved it...but...incomplete....the Will or research of it never for mentioned again!!!! Why. There was a load of info more to be gained. I hope the love story continued as well.
Loved it...but...incomplete....the Will or research of it never for mentioned again!!!! Why. There was a load of info more to be gained. I hope the love story continued as well.
An enjoyable read although I would have liked a more conclusive ending to the story.
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