Waiting for the Last Bus

Reflections on Life and Death

Richard Holloway

Waiting for the Last Bus by Richard Holloway (Paperback ISBN 9781786890245) book cover

Available as Paperback, eBook, Downloadable audio

A Sunday Times bestseller, this is a moving and profound exploration of life’s greatest mystery from one of the most revered religious figures of our time

Now in his ninth decade, former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway has spent a lifetime at the bedsides of the dying, guiding countless men and women towards peaceful deaths. A positive and profound exploration of the many important lessons we can learn, this is also a stirring plea to reacquaint ourselves with death. Doing so gives us the chance to think about the meaning of life itself; and can mean the difference between ordinary sorrow and unbearable regret at the end.

Radical, joyful and moving, Waiting for the Last Bus is an invitation to reconsider life’s greatest mystery by one of the most important and beloved religious leaders of our time.


“A wonderful, wise, compassionate and befriending piece of work”
Kathryn Mannix, Author Of With The End In Mind

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“Thought-provoking, revelatory, grave and comforting. It is impossible not to be moved by it in the most profound way”
Alexander Mccall Smith

“A real gem: a tender book, brimming with wisdom, beauty and compassion. Reading Holloway is like taking a long walk in the countryside – afterwards, you understand the world better, you feel less lonely”
Elif Shafak
guardian Books Of The Year

“An inclusive and hugely nourishing reminder to take stock of our mortality … Elegant, elegiac and thought-provoking”
observer

“Thoughtful, playful, courageous and deeply altruistic … a fine companion for anyone who wishes to live a life of any depth”
A.l. Kennedy


Richard Holloway

Richard Holloway was Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and Chairman of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Holloway has written for many newspapers in Britain, including The Times, Guardian, Observer, Herald and Scotsman. He has also presented many series for BBC television and radio; Waiting for the Last Bus originated as a five-part series on Radio 4 in 2016.