The Buried Life (2025) by Australian writer Andrea Goldsmith has an orphan character at the centre of the story.

Through 3 characters, Goldsmith explores ideas of uncertainty, friendship, love and death.

One of those is 43-year-old Professor Adrian Moor—called Dr Death by his colleagues—who is a well-regarded scholar in Death Studies; he is interested in the social & cultural aspects of death.

Adrian Moor was orphaned as a young boy but insists that this early tragedy hasn’t influenced him as a man.

Yet he keeps quiet about his childhood, not even telling friends what happened, that he was raised by his grandparents.