When I read Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, I THOUGHT I didn’t really like it, but because I kept thinking about it, I came to realize it was very effective, even if the actual read wasn’t happiness-inducing. So reading the blurb that said Richard Roper’s How Not To Die Alone was “for fans of Elinor Oliphant…” made me look forward to receiving an advance copy from Penguin Group Putnam/NetGalley  in exchange for writing an honest  review.

As soon as I started this book, I felt like it might not be for me. A recent health “incident” has made me more aware than ever that without children or family living nearby, I am very much at risk of…well, here’s the thing: the protagonist in this book, Andrew, works for the death registry, and his job is to go to homes where someone has recently died and determine if they have next of kin and/or funds to pay for a funeral. If there is no one, Andrew goes to their funerals. When he started his job, he lied and told his co-workers he had a wife and kids…but, in reality, he could die completely alone, like many of his “clients.” And, of course, since IT’S ALL ABOUT ME, this made me a bit uncomfortable.

Andrew’s workplace hires a new employee named Peggy, a married woman with children, and she and Andrew become friends. As expected, their friendship blossoms and it turns out that (spoiler alert!) Andrew likely won’t die alone, after all. The story is a bit touching and never veers into being precious or cute, and there is a lot of thought-provoking material, but I kept resisting being drawn in too deeply. I kept wondering if there are jobs like Andrew’s in the U.S. and thinking about how I really need to organize my crap so when an Andrew or Peggy starts digging around in my stuff, it won’t be such a mess. <sigh>

It’s a bit of a downer in some ways, but it also is kind of positive as the growth in Andrew and Peggy (both as individuals and in relation to each other) is pretty heartening. Good messages about loneliness and the possibilities that can arise if a lonely person takes a risk. In, the end, it felt a bit like Eleanor O: not a fun experience for me to read, but I did keep thinking about it, so it was effective. Four stars.