'It’s a wildly satisfying and moving read ... I loved this special book' – Graham Norton

Six years ago, Jo Caulfield was about to go on stage when she found out that her big sister Annie had cancer. Not the best way to start a nationwide comedy tour. But the tour turns out to be a welcome distraction for both sisters. As Jo reports back from various hotels and service stations, they revisit their childhood and adolescence while navigating Annie’s illness, learning through trial and error how to behave when someone you love gets sick.

The Funny Thing About Death is a hilarious memoir of two unconventional girls growing up in the 1970s. They didn’t fit in at the Air Force bases they were raised on or the strict convent boarding school they were sent to. The Air Force was obsessed with communists and the nuns were obsessed with the Virgin Mary, neither of which were of interest to Jo or Annie.

Annie was witty, spiky and greedy for life, rushing to be ‘interesting’ and experience adventures. She travelled the world and became a screenwriter and broadcaster.

Jo was equally rebellious but didn’t have a plan. She just wanted to be interesting like her big sister and thought it might involve eyeliner, smoking and being in a band.

Like her stand-up, Jo Caulfield’s caustic wit and razor-sharp observations make her account of life with her sister, even in the worst of times, as entertaining as it is touching and relatable.

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'Profound and very funny...full of brilliantly observational material… extraordinary'

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'This book conveys the awfulness of grief, but Caulfield’s admiration for Annie - a fellow writer and tremendous wit - makes an even greater impression... Caulfield speaks perceptively about the intricate nature of mourning'

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'Suffused with tenderness, warmth and some heartbreaking fragility...Caulfield has delivered a fitting tribute to her sister that, crucially, you suspect Annie would sneakily delight in'

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'A remarkable and cathartic read... Caulfield manages to capture the enormity of grief perfectly'

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'Packed with humanity... a reminder that laughter is what gets you through the tears'

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'It manages to both break your heart and get you giggling'

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'a story of two women carving out their place in the world, each with their experience of not fitting in and their own rebellious spirit'

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'Caulfield is sharp and funny, capturing childhood eccentricities marvellously, alongside the cathartic necessity of humour in the darker times. Her writing in honest and highly readable, intimate without being mawkish or overly sentimental'

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'Structurally it’s fascinating, as the story of their lives together is juxtaposed with the arc of Annie’s illness... a comforting, moving and on occasion incredibly funny read'

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'[Caulfield] writes about the death of her complex and talented sister from cancer with arresting commentaries on the repeated blows of grief'