Oxford County residents are invited to join the County-wide book club

Oxford County Library and Woodstock Public Library proudly announce the 2024 selection for Oxford Reads: Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by St. Thomas-born author Emily Austin.

This poignant and thought-provoking novel was selected through a community voting process from a diverse and compelling shortlist of Canadian authors.

In this debut novel, a morbidly anxious young woman stumbles into a job as a receptionist at a Catholic church and soon finds herself obsessed with her predecessor’s mysterious death. A delightful blend of warmth, deadpan humour, and pitch-perfect observations about the human condition, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where your expiration — and the expiration of those you love — is the only certainty. This novel was long-listed for The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award, and a finalist for the Ottawa Book Awards.

Now in its seventh year, Oxford Reads is a community-wide reading initiative that aims to connect readers across the County while celebrating Canadian literature and fostering discussion. This year’s selection will be the focus of additional library programming throughout the summer and fall months to enhance the shared reading experience, culminating in the Oxford Reads Gala this fall featuring author Emily Austin.

Oxford County residents are encouraged to visit an Oxford County Library branch or the Woodstock Public Library to borrow a copy of the book and join the community-wide book club. Print copies (including large print versions), e-books and audiobooks are available, as well as book club copies. You can check out a copy with your library card. For more information, visit www.oxfordreads.ca.

Comment

Sarah Adam, Systems Support Librarian, Oxford County

“Oxford Reads is about more than just promoting literature and Canadian authors; it’s about uniting people around a common theme and finding ways for people to learn and connect outside the pages of a book.”

Background

From the publisher, Simon and Schuster:

Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist, Grace.

In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace’s death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.

With a “kindhearted heroine we all need right now” (Courtney Maum, New York Times bestselling author), Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling and “delightfully weird reminder that we will one day turn to dust and that yes, this is depressing, but it’s also what makes life beautiful” (Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl).

Graphics

JPG: Emily Austin author image
JPG: “Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead” book cover image