Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
Gilda, a twenty-something 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.
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The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Burned out and depressed at twenty-seven, Gilda lies her way into a job as the receptionist for a tiny Brooklyn Episcopal church. Quietly, she starts impersonating the previous receptionist, who has died.
Yes. The novel is a dark comedy about anxiety, faith, and queerness. It is widely cited for its deadpan humor about death and meaning, balanced against genuine emotional weight.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead was written by Emily Austin, published in 2021 by Atria Books.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a standalone novel by Emily Austin, not part of a series.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.