Hervey (1920–2019) wrote this, his only work, in the 1950s but did not publish it until 1963, and despite the long wait, several family members stopped speaking to him after recognizing themselves in its pages.
The story takes place over four days surrounding a funeral. The British are well known for their tendency to make comedy out of funerals, but although this novel undoubtedly belongs to that category, it is also much more than that. The death of Colonel Winthorpe, a descendant of landed gentry and owner of a rustic manor house (built in the 17th century) set within 800 hectares of land, where, alongside the family, descendants of former serfs also lived, highlights the changes brought about after the World Wars. With the colonel’s death, a tradition that can no longer be sustained comes to an end, that “world of yesterday” which was the Empire.
The colonel was also a man of strict and unyielding character, which caused numerous difficulties in daily coexistence. For this reason, his four children and his wife feel a sense of relief at his death. The preparation of the funeral, the cremation, what to do with the ashes, the invitations, the will… are different moments in the novel that allow the characters to be shaped, revealing their interests, virtues and flaws, the difficulties of coexistence, manipulation, mindsets, etc. The family, Anglican, is not very religious, and selfishness or a purely materialistic outlook emerges easily. However, the whole work prompts, for any reader with sensitivity, a reflection that has turned this novel into a classical rarity.