When the Feast is Finished

When the Feast is Finished
Brian Aldiss

A moving account of the death of Brian Aldiss’ wife Margaret.Margaret Aldiss, Brian’s wife of thirty years, passed away quickly after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Based on journals they both kept, When the Feast is Finished is a moving account of those last months of Margaret’s life.Alongside Margaret’s bravely honest journal entries, Aldiss draws a heartbreaking portrait of the sustaining force of love in the face of a devastating illness.As husband and wife describe those last few precious months, they give thanks for the thirty years of joy and happiness they shared, the children of whom they are so proud, and the chance to say goodbye.

BRIAN ALDISS

With Margaret Aldiss

When the Feast is Finished

A memoir of Love and Bereavement

Copyright (#u4e1f5e53-d5b6-5e79-9370-bbb15a31eaea)

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk (http://www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk)

This ebook first published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager in 2015

Copyright © Brian Aldiss 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

Brian Aldiss asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 978-0-00-748260-3

Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 978-0-00-748261-0

Version: 2015-07-01

Dedication (#u4e1f5e53-d5b6-5e79-9370-bbb15a31eaea)

To Alison

Who made my life habitable

after the feast was finished –

with much gratitude

In loving memory of my wife,

Margaret Christie Manson Aldisss

Epigraph (#u4e1f5e53-d5b6-5e79-9370-bbb15a31eaea)

I cried for madder music and for stronger wine,

But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire,

There falls thy shadow, Cynara! the night is thine;

And I am desolate and sick of an old passion,

Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire:

I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.

ERNEST DOWSON

Contents

Cover (#u9df8bc04-7fc6-58d7-a7e5-68b33e248bca)

Title Page (#u131a3602-b2e2-5cc0-b24a-e24c21d74722)

Copyright (#ua6171343-91fd-5c29-9306-9c7043cca645)

Dedication (#ud8f0da6f-e3bf-5978-9667-6a6d5daf4acf)

Epigraph (#u752dcf00-a77b-5b0e-a5b8-516abec63701)

Introduction (#ud0db61e5-ecc2-5e40-ab85-0eebd06b8171)

Chapter I (#ue3c98817-1d6c-568e-85aa-bff8242d6067)

Chapter II (#uecbc511c-1804-555a-a213-ebab71436bf5)

Chapter III (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter IV (#litres_trial_promo)