My Grandmother and How to get to Heaven!

Yesterday, I received a message from a friend that read ‘Did you know that they took a story from your book and used it in Season 1, episode 4?!?!’ She was referring to new Netflix series 'How to Get to Heaven from Belfast’ by Lisa McGee (who was responsible for the magnificent Derry Girls').

I was only on episode 2 so sat down to watch episodes3 and 4 and, lo and behold, early in episode 4 one of the characters has a dress rehearsal for their funeral complete with rosary beads entwined in her hands and worries about whether the dress will look well on her as a corpse!

It’s remarkably similar to my grandmother’s laying out of herself (she did it without the help of an undertaker!) I hope my grandmother was the inspiration for this scene - she’d be delighted to know she’s posthumously inspiring others (and being recognised by a friend of mine in Chicago) I think she’d take global anonymous posthumous fame!

Below is the beginning of my tale of my grandmother’s fake death and a clip from episode 4 of How to get to Heaven from Belfast

Front cover and page 1 of ‘The Darkness Echoing’