Description

A Radio 4 Book of the Week
‘Jon Ronson meets Louis Theroux in the style of Joan Didion’ – Telegraph
‘Riveting . . . human stories that make the impersonal intelligible’ – The Guardian

In surprising stories that take us into the worlds of hitmen, insurance frauds and modern-day slaves, Jenny Kleeman explores the value of human life.

We say that life is priceless. Yet the cost of saving a life, creating a life or compensating for a life taken is routinely calculated and put into practice. For philanthropists, judges, criminals and healthcare providers, it’s just part of the job. In The Price of Life, journalist, broadcaster and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman takes us on an adventure to meet some of the people who decide what we’re worth.

In a series of extraordinary encounters – with people who have faked their own death or lost a loved one to terrorism, with hitmen and with modern-day slaves – she discovers more questions than answers. What happens when we take human emotions out of the equation? Are some lives really worth more than others? In a world in love with data, what do we lose and what do we gain by leaving the judgments that really matter up to cold, hard logic?
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‘Compelling’ – Literary Review
‘Reframes how you think about the world’ – Sophie Elmhirst, author of Maurice and Maralyn
‘Gripping’ – Daily Mail
‘Writing, thinking and storytelling at its best’ – Ben Judah, author of This Is Europe

Publisher Review

A keen eye for thought-provoking stories. * Telegraph * I found this book unputdownable, missing Tube stations and bus stops I was so engrossed by it . . . I urge you to take this book home with you, even steal it. — Ben Judah, author of This Is London and This Is Europe Morbidly fascinating and essential . . . clear-eyed and humane. * New Statesman * Touches on some important moral, political and philosophical issues . . . compelling. * Literary Review * Vivid. * The Observer * So smart – a concept that re-frames how you think about the world. And, as always, reported with insane flair. — Sophie Elmhirst, author of Maurice and Maralyn A thrilling adventure that takes in the strange and the profound – via hitmen, hostage negotiators, embryos, and the organ trade. It’s funny. It’s dark. It’s moving. It’s brilliant. Reading it, you’ll come away with a sense of gratitude, understanding that your own life is that little more valuable. — Oliver Franklin-Wallis, author of Wasteland A sobering reminder that every life has a price, however priceless we may feel our own to be. These are astounding stories that raise urgent ethical questions. — Angela Saini, author of The Patriarchs A dose of fresh air around the grim realisation that our world is besotted with numbers and data. * Snack *