Characters

The main characters in “The North London Book of the Dead” by Will Self are the narrator and his mother. The narrator struggles to come to terms with his mother’s death but needs to adjust to a new reality when he finds her living in a new part of London, as do, apparently, many other dead people. The mother is a dominant figure in the narrator’s life and seems to have a very strong personality. Her personality seems to change after her death, although not completely. The relationship between the narrator and his mother plays an important part in the story, as does the narrator’s grieving process after her death. 

The story mentions other characters, like the hospital and the crematorium staff, the narrator’s brothers, and the narrator’s colleagues, but they are not active characters in the development of the plot. 

You can read a full characterization of the narrator and his mother in the following pages.