Sea, sun and funerals in the new novel by Kate Vane

Working in a local authority cemeteries department inspired Devon author Kate Vane’s new novel, Not the End.

Kate said, “The job made me think about our attitudes to death, particularly when someone died without friends and family and the local authority had to take charge of the funeral arrangements. Often they weren’t poor, or a loner, as people think. They had just outlived everyone who was close to them.”

Not the End is set in a fictitious Devon seaside town during a heatwave. It begins with the death of octogenarian sea swimmer Maud Smith, recently arrived from Portugal.

When she drowns and her body is washed up on the beach, she changes the lives of three people she never met – the dog walker who finds the body, the probate researcher who looks for her heirs and the cemetery manager who organises her funeral.

Kate said: “As the story unfolds, we learn more about Maud’s past, but not much is known about her in later life. This means that each of the main characters imagines their own version of Maud. This in turn influences the decisions they make.”

Not the End marks a departure for Kate, whose previous novel, Recognition, was a crime novel set in Leeds.

Kate said: “I didn’t want to write the same kind of book again. But I think what unites the two novels is that they have complex, believable characters. I’m always intrigued and surprised by what people do and why they do it. That was my starting point for both books.”

Although it deals with some serious themes, Not the End takes a light-hearted look at contemporary life (and death).

Kate said: “I think it is ultimately an uplifting novel. It was fun to write and I particularly wanted to set the story during an ideal summer by the sea.”

It sounds like a good place to escape to now.

Not the End is published on Amazon Kindle at an introductory price of £1.99. You can buy the book or download a sample at http://amzn.to/1cgnyEj