Happy Old Me: How to Live A Long Life, and Really Enjoy It

'As long as I'm alive, I'll be with her, and she'll be with me.' Hunter Davies on Margaret Forster.

Being 80 is a moving yet uplifting account of one year in Hunter Davies' life, navigating bereavement and finding hope in the future.

On 8th February 2016, Margaret Forster lost her life to cancer of the spine. The days that followed for her husband, Hunter Davies, were carried out on autopilot: arrangements to be made, family and friends to be contacted. But how do you cope after you have lost your loved one? How do you carry on?

As Hunter navigates what it means to be alone again after 55 years of marriage, coping with bereavement and being elderly (he still doesn't believe he is), he shares his wisdom and lessons he has learnt living alone again. Revealing his emotional journey over the course of one year, as well as the often ignored practical implications of becoming widowed, he learns that, ultimately, bricks and mortar may change but the memories will remain.

Part memoir, part self-help, Being 80 is a fitting, heart-felt tribute to the love of his life and a surprisingly amusing and informative book about an age, and stage in life, which we might all reach someday. The third book in Hunter Davies' much-loved memoir series, which includes The Cop-Op's Got Bananas and A Life in the Day.