David Barnett writes about books and comics for the Guardian. The graveyard, he writes,is the main setting for [his] novel Things Can Only Get Better. It’s set in 1996, when Arthur, who is in his 70s, is so grief-stricken by the death of his wife Molly that he refuses to leave her graveside, eventually moving into and fixing up a derelict chapel and becoming a sort of unofficial caretaker.At the Guardian, Barnett tagged his ten favorite books about graveyards, including:
The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanRead about another entry on the list.
It stands to reason, for those of a certain bent, that cemeteries, being the resting places of the dead, will be home to ghosts. The spirits who haunt Neil Gaiman’s 2008 children’s book are benign, taking in and looking after Nobody “Bod” Owens, the only survivor of his family’s massacre at the hands of a serial killer called Jack. There are supernatural menaces to be overcome, but ultimately the real evil is done by the living.
The Graveyard Book is among Christian McKay Heidicker's six of the best read-aloud books for grown-ups, Sophie Cleverly's ten top terrifying teachers in children’s books, Claire Barker's top ten haunted houses in fiction, Jon Walter's ten top first lines in children's and teen books, Helen Grant's ten "best books with settings that are strikingly brought to life" and Nevada Barr's 6 favorite books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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