The Wakes

A heartfelt, funny and uplifting debut about two failing marriages, two strangers falling in love, two friends embarking on a catering business - and the four funerals that connect them all This is a story about Clare, Louisa and Chris. And sometimes Paul, and less often, Beth. It is most certainly not about frittatas (a terrible concession), and more to do with lemon tart (a perfect contrast of textures).It is about what to do when your husband tells you that he doesn't love you anymore. And what to do when your wife leaves you after too many rounds of IVF. It's about helping your new friend with her funeral catering business, and discovering that, sometimes, the most unlikely of pairings are the very, very best. It is about food that is outrageously good and comforting to sad people. And, for once, not being sensible, and throwing away everything you know.Catering, like life, doesn't always go according to plan, and as Clare, Louisa and Chris's stories become more intertwined, they will learn that life will always manage to break in to remind you of just how good it can be.This is a book about living. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life important. The Wakes is a bittersweet and irresistibly readable novel that perfectly blends laugh-aloud humour with poignant reflections on life and death and what really matters.

Lisa Schuurman: When Clares husband tells her one night that hes unhappy, shes not sure what to dobut helping her new friend Louisa start a funeral catering business is the last thing she expects to happen. Likewise, Chris thought he had seen everything as an emergency doctor, but when his wife still isnt pregnant after seven rounds of IVF and he is on the side of the road mumbling Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees to a stranger because he might be having a heart attack, things dont seem like they can get much worse. Life doesnt always go to plan, but Clare and Chris certainly didnt expect to see each other at four funerals in a row. These once-strangers soon become linked by grief and their lives intertwine as Dianne Yarwoods Sydney-set novel progresses. The Wakes is a book that will stay with you long after you finish the final page, as the author accurately captures the beautifully messy nature of life, death and love in all of its forms. For readers who enjoy Liane Moriarty, Meg Mason or simply a story with interweaving storylines, this debut novel poignantly and sometimes humorously explores how the many facets of grief can so strongly bind people together. With strong dialogue, fully formed characters and outrageously delicious food descriptions, The Wakes will leave you with a renewed appreciation for life. Lisa Schuurman is an editor, writer and book reviewer. Books+Publishing is Australias number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Dianne Yarwood worked in accounting and corporate advisory in London and Sydney. She also nurtured a love for cooking and catering. At the age of forty, with three young children, she became very ill and her life was saved by an emergency doctor. This brush with mortality gave her the courage to do what she's always wanted to do - write. Dianne lives in Sydney with her husband. The Wakes is her first novel.

A heartfelt, funny and uplifting debut about two failing marriages, two strangers falling in love, two friends embarking on a catering business - and the four funerals that connect them all This is a story about Clare, Louisa and Chris. And sometimes Paul, and less often, Beth. It is most certainly not about frittatas (a terrible concession), and more to do with lemon tart (a perfect contrast of textures).It is about what to do when your husband tells you that he doesn't love you anymore. And what to do when your wife leaves you after too many rounds of IVF. It's about helping your new friend with her funeral catering business, and discovering that, sometimes, the most unlikely of pairings are the very, very best. It is about food that is outrageously good and comforting to sad people. And, for once, not being sensible, and throwing away everything you know.Catering, like life, doesn't always go according to plan, and as Clare, Louisa and Chris's stories become more intertwined, they will learn that life will always manage to break in to remind you of just how good it can be.This is a book about living. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life important. The Wakes is a bittersweet and irresistibly readable novel that perfectly blends laugh-aloud humour with poignant reflections on life and death and what really matters. ' The Wakes is a truly delightful debut novel about life, death ... and chicken sandwiches. Funny, moving, tender and wise, I ate up every delicious word' LIANE MORIARTY ' The Wakes is an utter delight - warm, funny and profound. I can't wait for everyone to read it. I couldn't believe it was a debut' SALLY HEPWORTH, author of The Younger Wife 'So warm and poignant and sweetly funny. I loved it' JACQUELINE MALEY 'The Wakes is a celebration of what it means to be alive, and the joy of finding friendship where you least expect it. Dianne Yarwood explores the messiness of middle age with warmth, humanity and wry humour, as well as fiction's most delicious lemon tarts! I'd eat this book if I could' JOANNA NELL, author of The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital 'A truly exceptional novel. Dianne Yarwood skilfully illuminates the breadth of the human experience through the eyes of a suite of perfectly imperfect characters. This novel is rich with wisdom, love, humour and a sparkling joy - that unique kind of story that can make you sob and chuckle in the very same scene' KELLY RIMMER, author of The Warsaw Orphan 'I adored this novel. It's charming, poignant and moving but also very funny and left me full of the joys of this hard yet beautiful busine

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