A funeral marks the end of a life, but it makes a fine beginning to a story. Richard Roper opens his moving and humorous novel, ‘Something to Live For’, with a funeral where there’s only one mourner. Working for the local council in the Death Administration department, it’s Andrew’s job to search through the belongings of people who have died alone, seeking funds to cover funeral expenses, as well as contact details for family and friends. If he finds neither, Andrew has to arrange a Public Health funeral. These are not as uncommon as you might think. In the UK, local authorities spent £5,382,379 on public health funerals in the 12 months up to April 2018.