London Review Bookshop Podcast Sarah Perry & Amy Key: Death of an Ordinary Man
Apr 27, 2026
Sarah Perry, novelist turned memoirist, reflects on caring for and witnessing the death of her father-in-law David. She reads the memoir’s opening and discusses writing during illness, shifting perspectives to inhabit another mind, and the ethics of truth versus invention. Conversation touches on intimate care, changing forms of love in dying, and how memory and family notes shaped the book.
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Seaside Doughnuts Before The Fall
- Sarah Perry opens the memoir by placing David at a seaside doughnut stand to show ordinary moments before his rapid decline.
- The scene (fish and chips, misshapen doughnuts, his broken false teeth) grounds the reader in his pre-illness character.
Writing Dying Requires Novelistic Craft
- Perry felt compelled to write during the nine-day decline because she instinctively translated events into narrative as they happened.
- She deliberately used novelistic craft to create suspense so readers would care about David before his dying.
Memoir Demands Self-Scrutiny
- Perry insisted on scrutinising herself in the memoir as rigorously as she portrayed others to maintain integrity.
- She avoided self-aggrandizing memoir pitfalls by exposing impatience, pride and other failings honestly.
