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reemeyer 's review for:
The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County
by Claire Swinarski
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Half of this book is a delightful community story of a group of ladies that have cooked for every funeral in their North Woods WI parish for decades, as their mothers did before them. It’s a story of grandmothers and granddaughters and a community cookbook fundraiser to replace money scammed out of one of the ladies. It explores neighborliness and devotion, small town values and generational Catholic faith and forgiveness. I loved it.
The other half is CW galore, it delves into the family of a food network chef whose kids insist on returning to his estranged wife’s hometown to bury her as she wished. That story involves neglect, PTSD, a pretty graphic description of a mass shooting (with repeated mentions bc of the OTSD episodes), generational patterns of losing yourself trying to manage a loved one with PTSD, including a couple of near DV scenes (both involve beating the crap out of someone outside the family), depression and some suicidal ideation. It was a LOT.
It’s a good book and I’m glad I read it… but marketing it as a light hearted book about quirky old ladies and their cookbook is misleading.
The other half is CW galore, it delves into the family of a food network chef whose kids insist on returning to his estranged wife’s hometown to bury her as she wished. That story involves neglect, PTSD, a pretty graphic description of a mass shooting (with repeated mentions bc of the OTSD episodes), generational patterns of losing yourself trying to manage a loved one with PTSD, including a couple of near DV scenes (both involve beating the crap out of someone outside the family), depression and some suicidal ideation. It was a LOT.
It’s a good book and I’m glad I read it… but marketing it as a light hearted book about quirky old ladies and their cookbook is misleading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship