What an uplifting read. I really enjoyed this. Widower George McGlory works part time in a library, takes part in pub quizzes and visits the grave of his wife Audrey regularly. One day visiting his wife, George notices a funeral with no flowers and no mourners. He discovers this is a Public Health funeral for someone who died with no known friends or relatives to arrange the funeral. Thoughtfully written this is an enthralling read.

Briefly, George decided he wants to do something to make the funerals more meaningful. Gradually gathering to get a group of friends, old and new, they form the Light a Candle Society. Interspersed with short chapters about the various people who, for one reason or another, are alone at the end of their lives, we also follow a thread about George and his estrangement with his brother.

Sounds like it should be very sad, doesn’t it? and the stories of the people who died alone are sad. However, this is also a story about friendship and support and making a meaningful difference to the lives, and deaths, of others. An emotional and contemplative story made for a wonderful read. Great book.

Absolutely adorable audiobook!
This book really struck a chord with me. The thought of people passing away without a funeral or even anyone to mourn them absolutely broke my heart. This book sheds some light on this issue, and writes a heart warming story around it. The narrator was fabulous, I couldn't stop listening.

For some reason I just wasn’t able to get through this book, possibly read it at the wrong time, maybe one to come back to.

I absolutely adored this book and all the characters. I The difference George and the TLC society made to those funeral - although fictional was inspirational.
Whilst perhaps a depressing topic, the story was full of life. Perhaps the best book I’ve read all year 🌟🌟🌟🥰

I enjoy Ruth Hogan’s books. I think this one is my favourite. Such warmth in the characters! George McGlory sees a Public Health funeral, where there were no mourners, only a Council representative. He thinks what a shame it was for someone to die alone and have no one attending the funeral. He sets up a society, with a little group of friends, to make sure nobody is forgotten. The story continues with their “work” of making sure everyone has a funeral with mourners attending.. It is a. warm hearted story and although there are moments of sadness they are surpassed by the happy times. George learns that funerals are for the living as well and their little group become close friends.
I enjoyed this story very much, very different from the usual books on offer. Made me realise every day is precious. I would like to thank NetGalley, Ruth Hogan and Corvus, a branch of Atlantic publishers, for an arc of Ruth’s book.

I loved this book, right from the start I was invested in all the characters especially George. I am a librarian so found the descriptions of the customers at the library, really true to life. I enjoyed reading about all the characters and even though their stories were quite sad it was wonderful how their lives were celebrated . Please hurry up and write another book, Ruth

I will be submitting a glowing review on ,Facebook, Amazon, good reads and net galley

Visiting his wife's grave one afternoon, librarian George stumble on a sparsely attended funeral. He finds out it is a 'public health funeral', conducted for people who have no family, and he is determined that everyone's life is worth celebrating. Gathering together a disparate group of acquaintances, the Light A Candle Society is formed.
I love Hogan's novels! She is one of a small group of writers whose gentle and uplifting stories just hit the spot with me. It's odd, because I wouldn't normally choose this genre, but I am drawn in. There's no violence, little swearing or abuse, the plots are heartwarming, the characters rather cliched and yet the whole together is just perfect for a low-key comfy couple of hours!

George is visiting his wife's grave when he notices a funeral taking place with only a woman with a clipboard and the funeral directors taking part. Chatting to the funeral director, he learns that it was council funded funeral for a person who had no family or friends that could be traced. Saddened by this he resolves to attend these funerals so that someone is there to mourn them.
This idea gains momentum and soon there are a core group involved not only in attending, but setting up memorials on-line.
A lovely book about a sad subject.

George is an enigmatic character with a deep down heart of gold who brings together a collection of people to create a group to provide a fitting funeral for people with no apparent family or friends . The background stories of the group and the people they come to create funerals for are wonderfully intertwined. You will laugh, cry and share despair but come away enlightened

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

As George is laying flowers on his late wife’s grave, a hearse draws up, without any flowers and no attendees apart from a lady with a clip board.

After he’s spoken to an undertaker George is shocked to know that when there’s no relatives of a deceased, the local authority handles the funeral.

So, with the help of his friends, and the undertaker they form the light a candle society. When someone passes away, they look into whether they have any relatives or friends, and make sure that person has a good funeral.

I loved reading this emotional story. The stories, some of which were sad. It’s also a story of kindness, helping to make sure people are remembered even after they’ve gone.

I highly recommend this book.

I’ve been enjoyed dabbling in feel-good for a while now, since discovering and binge reading Phaedra Patrick’s novels and exploring other authors in the genre.

The Light a Candle Society tells the story of widower George McGlory. After witnessing a public health funeral with no mourners and no flowers he’s determined to try a make a difference. George and his friends come together and each play their part, while learning and growing themselves.

We meet the lonely souls who die alone, and see the efforts George and Co. make to lift up their funerals.

I found it enjoyable, though relatively mild and gentle. I’ve read more comedic feel-goods and more emotionally intense ones, but it wasn’t bad at all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atlantic Books.

I had already read The Keeper of Lost Things and Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan, so I was really looking forward to reading The Light a Candle Society. For me, this is definitely my favourite so far.
If you read the blurb please don’t be put off by the subject matter of a group of disparate people acknowledging the life of deceased people who having no living relatives are therefore at the mercy of the council and having a public health funeral.
The main character, a widower, George McGlory witnesses one of these one day when visiting his wife, Audrey’s grave. Having spoken to Edwin Bury, the undertaker at the public health funeral, he is saddened to hear that the process is a swift and no frills affair with no words about the person or their life.
As George ponders this procedure he has the idea that perhaps he could attend these funerals if only to say a few words, or possibly sing them! As George talks to Elena who runs the local flower shop and his co-worker at the library, Roxy some ideas start to take shape. With the help of Edwin, Sid, Niall and Briony the public health funeral becomes a celebration of the life of those unfortunate to need such a funeral. This is such a warm and uplifting story and I’m so pleased to have read it. One of my favourite books this year. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advanced reading copy in return for an unbiased review.

I’m delighted to share my review of this wonderful book. While tending his late wife’s grave, George is moved and troubled to see a funeral taking place with no-one in attendance. On further investigation, he discovers that it was what is called a public health funeral. These take place when someone dies with no known relatives, or when relatives are unable or unwilling to organise a funeral.

Determined that everyone deserves a proper, dignified send-off, George begins what becomes known as the Light a Candle Society. Gradually more people become involved and as they do, we find out their stories and reasons for wanting to help out. Some of the society, including George himself, have some secrets which they then confront over the course of the novel.

Throughout the book, there are touching chapters where we meet the people who end up having the public health funerals the Light a Candle Society attend. We see what their earlier lives had been like and get a glimpse into how they ended up dying alone. Quite often, these people had lived perfectly normal lives and it made me think about how easy it can be for people to fall through the cracks. Although, as George discovers, there is almost always someone who has a connection to the person, or has some information which can be used to build up a picture of someone’s life and can help them have a decent funeral. It’s so true that ordinary people have interesting stories waiting to be uncovered, that ‘every life is a story of some sort’.

I read most of this over the course of a very wet Saturday but to be honest, I think it’s a book I wouldn’t have been able to put down anyway. I was completely caught up in the lives of the wonderful characters the author created and I was also very moved by the stories of the people whose funerals George and his friends attended. George in particular is a character I took to my heart. He was just an ordinary person but he started an extraordinary chain of events. Captain and his dog Sailor were also firm favourites.

I have loved all Ruth Hogan’s books and this is no exception. I can’t recommend The Light a Candle Society enough. It’s a heart-warming, emotional and uplifting and read and one of my favourite books of the year!

Thank you NetGalley and Corvus Books for this eCopy to review

From the moment I stepped into the world of The Light a Candle Society, I was deeply moved. Ruth Hogan delivers a heart warming, uplifting novel about grief, friendship, and the power of human connection.

The story follows George McGlory, a recent widower and part-time librarian, who witnesses a lonely public health funeral no flowers, no mourners, just a solitary coffin. Struck by the sadness of it, he decides to take action. Alongside Elena, a florist; Edwin, an undertaker; Sid, a bric-a-brac shop owner; Briony, a newspaper reporter; and Roxy, his library colleague, George forms The Light a Candle Society, a group dedicated to ensuring that no one leaves this world unremembered. As they honour the forgotten, George is forced to confront his own past and the fractured relationships in his life. Can he find the courage to mend what’s broken before it’s too late?

Hogan’s writing is warm, witty, and deeply compassionate, weaving together themes of loss and redemption with a touch of humour. The characters are beautifully crafted, each bringing their own struggles and quirks to the story. The novel’s message that even the smallest acts of kindness can bring light to the darkest moments is profoundly touching.

The Light a Candle Society is a gentle, poignant read that lingers in the heart long after the final page full of emotional depth and charm. If you love books that celebrate the beauty of human connection, this one is well worth your time.

what a lovely book this was. i need not know who the author was really because i did know if that makes sense. Ruth Hogan knows how to write. and her writing is completely her own. its her own way of touching you deep and the writing just does this thing that feels like a lyrical and woven set of words that flow off the page and through you.
and this book was the same song going through you as all the others were.
George sees a public health funeral taking place(something i have actually thought about before). and George himself is moved by this, the thought of someone with noone there even at this last moment. so he tries to make sure he cant at least stop this in ways he can. and he finds other that might want to help him do this too. who then comes around to help is a group of brilliant characters all very different but all intriguing to follow.
this book just delivers so much. so much compassion, so much kindness and so much tender and heart moving moments. i feel like i learnt from this book. i dont know quite what. maybe just in the moment of reading it made me notice things, feel things and want to do better myself. but even then i felt with a capital F. part of me really hopes this is happening out there in the world. to get to know these people who are on their own, and giving their goodbyes a personal touch i think is something that would be such a cherished job to do for people.
superb book. absolutely superb.

A warm hug of a read, emotional, sad but uplifting and full of joy. The group of characters are a mixed bag but come together to celebrate life in all it's glory. Just lovely.

This was such a bittersweet read, the author has a gift for creating warmth and hope in the dark, quiet corners.
George is a wonderful, kind and caring person. He radiates compassion and attracts a found family of people who are also kind and thoughtful. Together they shine a light for those who are alone at the end. Absolutely heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal

The Light A Candle Society by Ruth Hogan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another great book by this author, full of love, life, happiness and friendship. George notices a lone hearse at the crematorium when he is tending his wife’s grave. There begins a tale of public health funerals for people who die with no relatives or friends. This book oozes kindness, emotion and love. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

When George puts flowers on his late wife’s Audrey grave. He notices a hearse pull up with no flowers on it and a woman with a clip board the only one attending. He is horrified when he finds out from an undertaker having a quick smoke on the side. That the funeral is a public health one. When the person has died and has no relatives or friends to attending and the local authority sorts out the funeral. They basically died alone.
With the help of the undertaker, his colleague Roxy who he works with at the local library and Elena the florist and Sid the Bric a Brac man they form the light a candle society. Where they research the deceased persons life and find out if they have any friends and relatives and make sure the person have a good send off.
Once again Ruth Hogan has written a beautiful emotional story. How people once had a place in the world but end up dying alone. Some of these stories which were very sad but believable ones. But also, a story of kindness for people to do something to make sure they are remembered and not forgotten. The characters in the story were so likeable especially Mrs kettle and her biscuits. I really enjoyed this heartwarming tale. 4 stars from me.

Actual rating 4.5.

Another gloriously heartwarming and uplifting novel from one of my favourite (and criminally underrated!) authors, perfect for fans of Clare Pooley or Freya Sampson. Whilst some people may find this story a little sentimental, I adored this group of big hearted characters as they helped celebrate the lives of people who died with nobody to arrange their funeral. It was heartbreaking at times, but also hopeful and a joy to read.

I ended up listening to the audiobook, but didn’t love the narration at times.