I so much admire her work ethic, commitment, empathy and compassion and I think she very articulately humanises her journey with pain and evil. Much of this is somewhat dispiriting, but When the Dust Settles also includes a striking example of how one community managed to achieve a form of closure after disaster. I have written in several places about my unhappiness with the lack of systems-thinking during the pandemic, and Chapter 16 The End explains Lucy’s role as advisor to the cabinet before and during the pandemic. Went to see Lucy Easthope talk about this book at the ilkley literature festival, I should have bought it then it gives a fascinating insight into what goes on behind our dealing with disasters and what we should be doing, once again it shows that sometimes we forget the lessons we have previously learned.

She explains without hyperbole what happens in the aftermath, describing how the authorities respond and how victims and their relatives are cared for. Pulling back the police tape when the unthinkable happens, this is a story of bringing hope in the darkest of times afterwards. Her work includes disaster victim identification, planning disaster response, management of personal effects and positioning affected communities for recovery.The book also made me rethink my opinions on a lot of things, the final chapter on the covid pandemic gave me pause for thought and was again, all the more difficult to read about once you know that this was anticipated and planned for. Most of the victims were Dutch, and whilst I don’t know anyone personally, I know several people who lost loved ones on that flight. For more than two decades, Easthope has been a disaster manager – a job that requires her to coordinate recovery efforts in the wake of major catastrophes. Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering.

That's a missed opportunity IMHO, what did these teams learn the Brits and vice versa what did these teams learn from the UK teams ? It was Easthope that had to procure hundreds of cookie sheets to lay out the fragments of flesh and bone when the twin towers came down. The author is clearly most passionate about the finer details of her work, that being the areas which may be forgotten about amongst the immediate chaos. It is through the cracks, and through the dogged dedication of disaster experts like Easthope, who has been an adviser on nearly every major disaster for the last twenty years, that the light comes in.

While Easthope has seen for herself that there is life after tragedy, she also understands that “disaster is perpetual, chronic, with a pain that ebbs and flows like tides”. I feel relieved that there are people like Easthope out there, thinking of worst-case scenarios, advising people who might be in great emotional turmoil. Yet, It is indeed fascinating to understand the logistics: for example how field mortuaries are organized - the radiographers have to be legally distanced so their machines are safe for those also around. In her moving memoir she reveals what happens in the aftermath and explores how we pick up and rebuild with strength and perseverance. When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can – and must – be found on the darkest days.